Sookie After Dark: Club Dead Redux
by karmasabitch
Summary: A tweaked version of the original with different POV's and showing an alternate ending. Feat POV's from: Sookie, Alcide, Eric, Bill, Pam & a surprise.
1. Chapter 1: Your Cheating Heart

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK**

**CHAPTER ONE: Your Cheating Heart**

**SOOKIE**

"If she were human I would take care of it myself," I said as I stood to show Eric to the door. However, he beat me to it, telling Pam and Chow to go on without him.

As I reached the doorway, Eric had already showed them out, and was turning to coming back in. After shutting the door, he emitted a low snarl and looked at me with heat in his eyes. He studied me wordlessly and then slowly started prowl my way. I started to feel like prey…but in a good way.

What am I thinking? This was Eric. The same vampire that tricked me into sucking a bullet out of his chest, who relentlessly pursued me sexually and who just this very evening, snuck into my home and crawled into my bed for some "cuddling." I needed to get a grip and quick or else my libido might just take over.

After all, it had been a while for me on the sex front. Bill had been so preoccupied with his stupid database that he hadn't laid a hand on me in well over two weeks, if not more. I know that doesn't seem like a long time but when you only lose your virginity at twenty-five (not by choice but because of my annoying telepathy) and your first boyfriend is a libidinous (word of the day) vampire who knows his way around a bedroom? Then two plus weeks can feel like two years. I have a lot to catching up to do.

So yeah, back to the issue, waking up earlier to find Eric spooning me was a little disorienting to say the least, cuddling, my _ass_. For one blissful and hopeful moment, I actually thought Bill was back from Seattle and once again desired me. The fly in the proverbial ointment, however, was that it was actually Eric, and with him came stunning revelations. One of them being that my beloved Bill had left me for another woman and he didn't even have the decency to tell me himself. Yes, he left that nasty bit of business to Eric and Pam. How kind of you Bill. Really. I guess he doesn't mind Eric being his sheriff now.

I have never felt so humiliated and believe me, that's sayin' something. I didn't even warrant a face-to-face dumping. This sure was a wake up call about my importance in Bill's life and _now_, I am being begged to go to Jackson and look for my cheating bastard of an ex-boyfriend who has subsequently been duped by the woman, Lorena, he left me for. _Woman_. Ha! More like vampire ho.

However, at the moment, I have more pressing issues to attend to and that would be the one thousand year old Viking vampire in my living room who is looking at me like he wants to eat me, or fuck me, or maybe both. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't sexually attracted to Eric. He is nothing short of a Viking god being all of six feet five inches of sheer presence. He might as well be ten feet tall because that's what being in his company sometimes felt like. He was just so…_large_ and gorgeous to boot. Shoulder length wheat blond hair, which, seemed to be as expressive as the man himself, brilliant blue eyes and a face that looked like it was carved out of the finest stone. And his body? Well don't even get me started. If Calvin Klein ever met Eric Northman, his incredible ass would catapult underwear sales into the stratosphere. Marky Mark would be a distant memory.

As I'm being honest with myself at the moment, I admit there is something more than a little bothersome about the way I feel about Eric. Yes, he is gorgeous. Yes, he has the reputation for being the Holy Trinity in the sack. However, it's his personality that truly attracts me. Not only does he get my humor and seemingly has a similar temperament to myself in many ways, but mostly? I feel safe around him. I know that is probably the craziest thing I could ever think, considering what I know about vampires and Eric in particular. Forget his out-and-out strength, but when I think about the cunning it takes to survive for over a thousand years as a vampire? The mind boggles and yet... I am simply not afraid of him. Not down deep. I have no valid reason for this overwhelming sense of security nor for the fact that I know in my heart of hearts that he would never harm me. Well, not intentionally anyway.

As for Bill? He might as well have literally ripped my heart out and staked me in the gut while he was at it because this hurts more than any physical pain I could ever imagine having to endure. Right now I feel both furious and devastated, but for the moment, I am mostly furious. Thank the Lord because I am sure in the morning, as soon as my foot hits the floor, this pit currently churning in my stomach will make me so ill that I'll vomit before I even reach the bathroom. So for now, I appreciate the fury.

I am raging because not only did Bill just unceremoniously discard me to be with The Vampire Ho-rena, but said ho-vamp has double-crossed him and I'm willin' to bet it's in order to get to his precious database which, _incidentally_, he left with me after having me vow to keep it safe and protected no matter what. Damn vow! Not only _that_, but I find out the person he's been working on it for is none other than Queen of Louisiana. Crap.

Crap, crap, _crap. _The reveals just keep on coming.

I would laugh at the poetic justice of it all except for that fact that ironically, it's me, Sookie Stackhouse, vampire sympathizer and lover who is being put upon to fix this huge mess so that no one else gets hurt by Bill's stupidity. That's because, according to Eric, if the Queen finds out Bill is gone, hellfire will reign down upon him and all the people under his care. Bet Bill didn't see all this coming. Asshole.

I am a second away from handing over that fucking database to Eric right now and letting Lorena have her way with Bill. The only reason why I'm not is because I gave Bill my word and Stackhouse's keep their word. Damn word! Plus, if we find him he can clean up his own damn mess. ARGH! I want to hurt him as badly as I am right now! I can actually feel the bile making it' way up in my throat at the thought of him making love... oh no, uh... _fucking _another woman. Then it hit me. Two can play at that game, Bill Compton. He left me, which means I'm a free agent, _buddy_. I may just need to scratch that certain itch I've had for a while now in the form of one Mr. Eric Northman.

These thoughts didn't actually take as long to form in my head, as they do to tell because before they actually form coherence (word of the day), Eric is stalking toward me with a look of pure hunger and I stand in my living room like a deer in headlights. Yet as he gets closer, the anger I feel toward Bill quickly morphs into something else entirely. I was suddenly filled with revenge and lust and who better to hurt Bill with than Eric.

Bill despises Eric for several reasons concerning me, as well as the simple fact that Eric was his sheriff and Bill had to obey him. If I chose to be with Eric of my own accord, there wasn't one damn thing Bill could do to stop either one of us. Ha! That just sealed the deal for me! I was tired of Bill's antics. For God's sakes we haven't even known each other long enough for all the crap I've already gone through with him! So if I have to risk my own neck in order to save that sell out, then I'm going to get something out of it for myself. After all, it was Bill who originally told me that he heard sex with Eric was unforgettable. Well, guess what? Newly deflowered little Sookie Stackhouse was about to find out for sure.

Eric was a mere five inches away from me when I launched myself at him and threw my arms around his neck. Not one to turn down a good thing, Eric just as quickly lifted me by my waist and wrapped my legs around his waist. He then gently kept pressed down on either side of my knees so they bent at an outward angle, practically parallel to the floor, Oh! Oh yes. I guess this little maneuver was so he could caress my thighs and caress them he did. His lips were greedy for mine and we kissed like there was no tomorrow and _boyee_, could he kiss! His lips were smooth and pliant and for being cold-blooded, his breath was hot and wet. Eric's fangs had come out and I twirled my tongue around them and stroked the undersides, which he seemed to like since it elicited a moan from deep in his chest.

Suddenly, Eric flipped us around so that my back was against the wall and pressed into me, rubbing his hands up and down the outside of my thighs while his thumbs ran firmly up and down my muscles and the hollow on the inside, getting as close to my groin as possible without ever touching. Then he moved his hands into my hair, grabbing it by fistful at the nape and pushing my face toward his. He deepened the kiss, yanked my head to the side and devoured my jaw and neck with a long, hot lick. At the juncture of my neck and shoulder he suckled my skin into his mouth, his fangs holding it like a cat subduing a kitten while he teased my artery with his tongue, making it plump. He growled. I purred. He was needy. I was putty. He was ravenous. I was desperate. He was everything. I was dying. Bill who?

It was then that Eric twisted up into me and notched his erection perfectly into my center and I felt exactly just what this Viking was packing and let me tell you, I got a little nervous as to if I could accommodate him. After all, I had only been with one man and judging from what was grinding into me at the moment, Bill was on the short end of the stick.

As our make out session intensified, Eric pulled away and mumbled hoarsely, "Bed."

All I could manage at the moment was a breathy nod of my head toward the hall. Eric wasted no time getting us to my room. He flung me on my back onto the bed and stood back to look at me for a moment. Too many moments obviously, because he cocked his head to the side, arched his eyebrow and proceeded to ask the most unexpected (and possibly stupidest) thing I have ever heard.

"Sookie, _why _are you doing this?"

My jaw dropped. I was at a loss for words. Had this man not pursued me for months for just this very thing? I had no delusions of grandeur that I meant anything more to Eric than a conquest, another notch on his belt or better yet, a jab at Bill. So what the hell was his problem? I said the first thing that came to mind.

"What's the problem, Eric? Are you trying to say you don't want me?"

"Oh, I want you. I want you more than I have wanted any woman in an uncommonly long time, though I am not really sure why that is. It's just that I want you to want me as well and I don't want you to regret this in the morning…"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Yeah, _right_. He continued. I guess he had a point to make.

"… and I _certainly_ don't want to be used as some act of retaliation against Bill. "

Now both his eyebrow were all up in his hairline and that fucking head of his was still cocked like I was some sort of lab experiment gone wrong.

"Oh. My. God. I can't believe this," I muttered through my clenched jaw. "Wasn't it just three or so weeks ago you were asking me to 'yield' to you on the hood of your _Corvette _and now here I am! Laid out for you, ripe for the picking and you have suddenly grown a conscience? You know what? Just forget it! Get out. I can't take any more rejection tonight. This was a huge mistake. You were right to stop it."

"Sookie," he chastised softly, "that isn't what I meant. What you have offered me tonight is unprecedented and I know I will be kicking myself tomorrow for questioning you at this," Eric quirked that eyebrow again … "pivotal moment."

"It is just that I know you are not the type of woman who jumps into...what is the colloquialism you humans use? Ah, the sack? You are not the type of girl who readily jumps into the sack with a man under normal circumstances. I am magnanimous enough to realize that you are upset and conflicted."

He finished his little speech with an air of superior solemnity while also looking supremely pleased with himself. Amazing.

I rolled my eyes. Typical _Eric_. It must be nice to always find a way to pat yourself on the back.

He continued, "You think that if you slept with me it would settle the score between you and Bill and while I am all for being next in your bed," he waggled his eyebrows, "I think it best if you contemplate on it all for a while. After all my….after all Sookie, I prefer not to be your rebound man."

Dumbfounded, I sat up on my elbows with my shirt pulled out of my jeans and the top buttons undone and with as much dignity as I could muster in my rumpled state I said, "Whatever, Eric. I'll go to Jackson and look for Bill because I gave you my word that I would help but after that, I'm done. You hear me? I. Am. Done. I'm done with all of you. I want to go back to my normal mundane life, with my normal mundane job and possibly have a normal mundane boyfriend!"

I finished this tirade by placing my arms across my chest and heaving out a huff that made the hair hanging in my face fly off to the side.

Eric, with his own shirt askew and a very obvious hard-on bulging in his jeans, _God _that looked painful, took all of this in silence as he observed me. I'm assuming he's contemplating my sincerity.

The emotion on his face was one of deep concentration and he looked like he was struggling with something and then it was gone. His face had shut down and he nodded to me curtly and said so softly I strained to hear, "There is no normal for you," and with vampire speed, he was out of my house before I could blink.

Well, if this wasn't a clusterfuck of an evening, I don't know what is.

* * *

**Your Cheating Heart by Patsy Cline**

Your cheatin' heart will make you weep,  
You'll cry and cry and try to sleep.  
But sleep won't come the whole night through,  
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you.

When tears come down like fallin' rain.  
You'll toss around and call my name.  
You'll walk the floor the way I do,  
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you.

Your cheatin' heart will pine some day  
And crave the love you threw away.  
The time will come when you'll be blue,  
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you.


	2. Chapter 2: The Girl's Attractive

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK**

**CHPAPTER 2: The Girl's Attractive**

?

**SOOKIE**

Okay! Okay! I'm coming! Sheesh! Who the hell is banging on my front door this early in the morning?

As I make my way toward the entrance, I see a note stuck to the peephole. All it said is:

_Sookie, I am sending a Were named Alcide Herveaux to take you to Jackson. You will be with him the entire time. He will take care if you as he is indebted to me. – E_

Well, Okey dokey then. I guess that settles it. Hey, wait a minute, when the hell did Eric manage to find the time to arrange this? Moreover, when the hell did he leave this note? Forget it. I have an impatient Were to attend to deal with to right now. I open the door.

Alcide was is handsome. _Very_. He is also rugged and warm looking and pulses with electricity. Maybe he was is an Alpha because I was am instantly attracted. He was is tall, over six feet, well built, although he's was wearing a flannel so I couldn't can't tell exactly, but he has nice shoulders. Sturdy. His hair was is curly but in a messy, loose way and it hangs just past his chin. He has a broad face with cheekbones that _just_ stand out enough to give him some definition. Clear green, almost yellow eyes that were are almond shaped with long sparse lashes except toward the ends of his eyes where they were are a little longer and denser. It gives him an intense, sexy bedroom eyed look without even trying. It's was actually a little unnerving because I couldn't can't help but stare, a bit mesmerized. His lips looked smooth and were are nicely proportioned, his bottom lip a bit fuller and with a deep cupid's bow on the top. I bet when he smiles it lights up his whole face. Oh, boy.

Funnily enough, I have a hard time reading shifters but with Alcide, I was am able to get more from him than most. He was is not happy to be running this errand for Eric but he was pleasantly surprised when he saw me. That's because not only does he think very little of vamps and the people who run with them, but he knows practically nothing about what's going on except he is to guard me, take care of me, let me stay at his place and bring me to some place called Josephine's to look for someone. He expected a woman who looked rode hard and put away wet. Instead, he got me. A pretty blond with a nice chest, who seemed like a sweet Southern girl with no visible vamp marks and could make a mean breakfast.

Well, thanks, Alcide! "I rolled my eyes I guess there's is nowhere left to go but up," I grumble to myself.

By the time we got to his place in Jackson and spent the first day and early part of the evening together, Alcide and I had gotten to know each other fairly well. I learned it was his father who owed Eric because he had bailed him out of a large gambling debt. I can imagine Eric must love collecting favors from people, the same way he loves collecting notches on his bedposts.

I had told Alcide about Bill. How I am here to find him but of course I didn't tell him every detail. I also told him of my telepathy, he was intrigued at first. But then, more than a little shocked and inevitably, uncomfortable because the more he got to know me, the more he entertained lustful thoughts about me. I took that as a compliment though because I got the impression that, for as down to earth as Alcide was, he sure did have a lot of prejudices. He kind of sets his expectations about people and things before he even knows them. That's a shame because he sure has a lot going for him and I think it blinds him from seeing real truths, like this ex-girlfriend of his, Debbie Pelt. She sounds like a real winner. Even his sister Janice hates her. Well, maybe he'll outgrow her because she sure sounds like a bad habit he needs to quit.

Not that I should talk really. Apparently, I failed to miss the fact that Bill was planning on leaving me and I practically lived with him. I wonder what my issues are which blind me from seeing the truths of matters.? Maybe it's the fact that I am so reliant on my telepathy. I never had to learn to read the subtle nuances of body language or people's intonations before. Not that vamps give much away and Bill seems extra adept at closing down his face and emotions. However, this is all new to me. and I am learning fast that I better bone up on my people reading skills and not in the telepathic way, but in the supe way. Although, I did tell Eric I was done after this and I mean it.

As I was getting ready to go to Josephine's or as the supes call it, Club Dead, I begin thinking about the afternoon I spent with but before that, Alcide and my feelings about one part in particular. While we played scrabble that afternoon, I read from him that he didn't know how to tell me I needed to dress up so I made it easy on him.

"_Alcide? What is the dress code for this place? I have two outfits and I hope they'll be okay."_

_He breathed a sigh of relief. Good Lord, Alcide. I know he he thinks I'm poor and I am, but we've just spent practically 24 hours together! I'm not some charity case or in need of some Eliza Doolittling. Whatever. I turned away and rolled my eyes, thinkin' that maybe Alcide is a bit of a snob because his family is prominent.. _

_I think Alcide is a bit of a snob because his family is prominent. Yeah well don't fool yourself mister. Your daddy has a bad enough gambling habit that he had to get bailed out from a group of people you all despise, he's an alcoholic and also cheating on your momma. That's right, I read that straight from the secretary's head when we went stopped by his to the office earlier. I bit my tongue._

"_Oh, you know Sook, club wear is fine,. iIf it's a dress, then something party-like but not formal. Usually short, tight and slightly glitzy is the name of the game and if you wear jeans, the women usually wear heels and fancier tops to dress it all up. Is that gonna be alright?" _

"_Yes, Alcide. I think I'll manage. Now thank you for the afternoon and I'm gonna go and start getting ready."_

Snapping out of the memory, I think that before I shower, Before I showered, I want to wanted to decide on which dress. Choice number one was a beautiful gold silk Grecian mini dress; both were bought from my friend Tara's boutique called "Tara's Togs.". A month or so ago I had done a job for Eric in Dallas. He had a business wardrobe allowance for me in place at Tara's store and I splurged because Eric was footing the bill. Har-de-har.

Choice number one is a beautiful gold silk Grecian mini dress. This dress was a gold foil so it had sheen, but it wasn't isn't too over the top. It has a feminine low back and a sophisticated drape sleeve with structured shoulders and detachable belt. Tara told me it was featured in British Vogue. The shoes were are a black T-strap in with a three-inch heel with and contrasting gold piping. The middle T part has layered gold metal sequins. I have a little black and gold clutch to match and simple gold stud earrings.

My undergarments for this one had to be smooth because the fabric was is silk. So Tara chose a simple plain nude colored bra by Only Hearts. She told me the line was called "second skin" and believe me, it was. It felt like I was wearing nothing and I was a little concerned about my nipples poking through if I got cold, but she assured me that is only part of the appeal when wearing simple lingerie like this. I wasn't so sure I cared about that part since I wasn't planning on letting anyone see my undergarments but Tara's the boss. My panties where a matching nude, "second skin" thong which she also informed me was a celebrity and runway favorite. I took her word for it.

The second choice was an off the shoulder cap sleeved red knitted dress made of nylon and some other material so it fit like a glove. The top of the dress has horizontal ribbing, which was is about four inches thick and went goes all the way across to wrap around the sleeves. That ribbing also comes down the sides in a horizontal pattern with a single line vertical piping to separate the ribbing from the flat panel on the center of the dress in the front and back.

It was is very va-va-voom and chic and simultaneously shows off my curves while minimizing them. Sometimes, you really have to love a great thick stretch fabric. Normally I can't afford the good stuff, so I stay away all together for fear of looking like a refugee from the eighties.

The shoe to go with this dress was is a simple black pump with a bit of a platform. Tara told me to keep the rest simple because a red dress always makes a big statement. They were by someone called Christian Louboutin, who was known for always having blood red soles on the bottom of all his shoes. That Tara, she thinks of everything. Tara also told me to keep the rest simple because a red dress always makes a big statement.

Again my undergarments had to be smooth. Although this time, these were are black in color and. My bra was is a strapless satin and fully supportive with a lovely sleek sweetheart shape. My panties are a satin string thong that is barely there, no more than a piece floss really.

My legs would have stay up stockings (but no garters) in transparent black with sheen to them.

I decided on the red.

Before I walked out of the bedroom, I took take one last look and I have to say, I looked _good_. My is I kept my hair down but did a big smooth side curl thing like Veronica Lake but really, looking at my body, it's more like Jessica Rabbit. My skin was is flawless and I only use mascara and hint of liner to enhance my eyes. A dab of blush but not too much because I used a deep lip stain so that my lips looked naturally red and pouty and then I swiped clear gloss over them. I added the gold studs and I was am off.

As I entered the room, Alcide was is pouring a drink. I wish I had a video camera because it's not too often a girl gets a reaction like this. He did does a double take and his eyes went go wide and his jaw drops open. His drink ran runs over onto the counter and all over the floor.

"Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Oh, man!" he says as he snaps out of it and rushes to clean the floor.

His eyes darted up and he then he bounces up to stood stand up quickly and tall just…_staring_.

"Wow. Wow, Sook. You look…you look…. positively mouth watering."

His voice went goes from high (well, high-ish) to deep and growly. I twirled slowly for him as he just kept keeps staring. I smiled shyly and blushed.

"You don't look so bad yourself. In fact, you look so handsome, Alcide. I'm thinking that Debbie must be a downright fool to leave you for an owl," and I meant it. He was is wearing a black suit, with a white shirt and a skinny black tie. The stark white shirt sets off his eyes and tanned skin. He looks so ruggedly handsome it's was slightly feral. Wolf, indeed. Yum.

Alcide beams at the compliment.

He took me to dinner first and he paid. Not that I didn't try to pay for myself, of course. I was quiet low-key throughout the meal because I was picking up on everyone's thoughts and they were all centered around Alcide or his father.

When we got back in Alcide's pickup we were both quiet and thoughtful.

"You didn't talk much at supper," he says. "You didn't have a good time?"

"Oh, sure, I did. I just didn't think it was a real good time to start broadcasting any opinions."

"What did you think of Jake O'Malley?" O'Malley, a man in his early sixties with thick steel-colored eyebrows, had stood talking to Alcide for at least five minutes, all the while stealing little sideways glances at my boobs.

"I think he's planning on screwing you six ways from Sunday."

Alcide grills me a little more. He had forgotten I was a telepath, which would be unbelievable to me if I hadn't been able to read it from his head.

"Did you read anything else?" he asks.

"Like what?" I ask back.

"From me?" he sounds wary.

Aha. Here we go…

"Shape-shifters are not so easy," I tell him. "I can't pick out a clear line of thought, more a general mood, intentions, sort of. I guess if you thought directly at me, I'd get it. You want to try? Think something at me."

_The dishes I use at the apartment have a border of yellow roses. _

"I wouldn't call them roses," I say doubtfully. "More like zinnias, if you ask me."

I could can see him tensing up so I swiftly try to put him at ease.

"But just to pick your own thoughts out of your head, that's a murky area," I say quickly. "I can't consistently do that, with Weres and shifters." A few Supes were are fairly easy to read, but I saw see no need to bring that up at this point in time.

"Thank God."

"Oh?" I said say archly, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "What are you afraid I'll read?"

Alcide actually grins at me before he turns off the dome light and pulls out of our parking space. "Never mind," he says, almost absently. "Never mind. So, tonight I'm assuming you'll be reading minds to try to pick up clues about your vampire's whereabouts?"

I explained how I can't read vampire minds, so I'lI be looking to read the humans or any Supes hanging with vamps because Bill was snatched during the day or so that's the story. Alcide says he'll let me know of any information he comes across by way regular old hearing. I chuckle.

We pulled up to Club Dead and get out. The air was is menacing. If I didn't know any better, I'd bet the place was is spelled. It's was creepy and I felt feel like I'm was in an episode of Tales from the Darkside. Nevertheless, here we were are at the inner door.

When we walk up, I noticed the doorman was is a goblin.

* * *

**The Girls Attractive by Diamond Nights**

She looks good swiss cheese put your head from the hose  
A pistol's sneaking tease more than I can ignore  
A quick lap round the track, man, she's keeping me active

She looks good  
The girl's attractive

She looks good chip beef such a miracle fray  
I slice through me when I call her name  
Ain't no mystery a matter of fact is

She looks good  
The girl's attractive

Don't I can't resist her please tie me down

Mixed drinks always lead glass is as full as is tall  
But hip strip there's sweet rubbing alcohol  
A hook ball and chain oh the girl got you captive

She looks good  
The girl's attractive

Don't I can't contain myself please tie me down.

**A/N: **Pictures of Sookie's dresses can be found in the profile page. **  
**


	3. Chapter 3: Jealous Enemies

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK**

**CHAPTER 3: Jealous Enemies**

**SOOKIE**

"Mr. Herveaux," the goblin grumbles, "Good to have you back. Your companion is…?"

"Miss Thorton," Alcide provides.

"Arlene, this is Mr. Hob." Well, now that was original-how many goblins were are named Hob, do you reckon? I haved to stifle a giggle at the use of such an absurd name, Mr. Hob the hobgoblin, these Supes were are just too much sometimes. As if Fangtasia wasn't isn't punny enough, I get to meet a goblin named Mr. Hob.

With a glance from Mr. Hob, I schooled my face to show him respect. I'm not wasn't sure what a goblin could do to me and I sure didn't don't want to find out. Mr. Hob seems to be assessing me and deciding whether he's was going to gain give us entrance into Josephine's. He looks as though he couldn't can't decide which supernatural slot to fit me into and . After a brief second or two, he steps aside and let's us pass.

After the big build up of the creepy sidewalk, the disappearing truck and the goblin at the door, I was am a little disappointed to find that the inside of Josephine's was is painfully ordinary. I should know by now, a bar is a bar is a bar, and this one was is dead (no pun intended), although, it _was_ _is_ early for the patrons of this establishment. As we makde our way to the table, I spotted a list of guidelines on the wall. I haved to laugh. These were are no Cider House Rules, mind you, these were are Supe rules: "No changing on the premises", understandable, "No biting of any kind" and "No live snacks." Well, that makdes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. At least I'm not wasn't going to be offered up as an appetizer. Yet, it's was a simple reminder to me that we weren't aren't in Kansas anymore. Must. Keep. That. In. Mind. Especially when dealing with or on Supe turf of any kind.

There were are a few vamps scattered amongst the bar, some with humans and others with fellow vampires. There was is also a large rowdy group of shifters in the corner. They've had pulled several tables together to accommodate their group. In the center of said group, the attention was is on a tall woman with short, gleaming black hair, an athletic build and a long narrow face. She wasn't isn't overtly pretty but there' was s something about her. She was is devoting her attentions to a man about her age, which I guessed to be twenty-eight. He had has round eyes and a flat nose with the softest looking hair I have ever seen. It's was almost baby-fine, and so blond it was is almost white.

I felt feel Alcide stiffen and his face went is seriously tense. I suddenly realized that this might be Debbie Pelt with her fiancé. Was Is this their engagement party? No wonder Alcide had has had a sudden personality transplant. Did he know this party was planned for tonight? Oh well, too late to worry about that. It really wasn't isn't any of my business anyway. I was am here to find Bill, my cheating ex. As first boyfriend experiences go, well… look how that's turned out. Maybe I'm not so different from Alcide. Boy we sure can pick 'em. Gah! If I plan to do my job, I have no time to wallow. That's not the Stackhouse way anyway. Plus, a deal is a deal and I gave Eric my word that I would will help find Bill. If I labor in self-pity and anger I'll never get anything done. I might be furious with Bill but I still didn't don't want him to meet his final death, at least not before I get to give him a piece of my mind.

I need some closure. I need to find him so that I can at least hear from the horses' own mouth why he left me and why he couldn't tell me himself. I still can't believe that Bill would willingly leave me. I actually thought that he truly loved me as much as I loved him. I sigh when think how naive I must have come across to Bill this whole time. I must have been such an easy mark and that thought makes me burn with even more humiliation and depression. There's a part of me that would even hopes it's more of a case of him being a really good actor.

Snap out of it, Stackhouse! I begin to scan the crowd, searching out the humans in the bar and set about lowering my mental shields. As I look around, I check out what all of the other women are wearing and most of the female vampires were are dressed at my level, while the shifter women tended to dress down a bit. Debbie Pelt was is wearing a gold silk blouse, brown leather pants and boots. I now notice she also has one of the stupidest haircuts I ever did see. When she laughs out loud at a comment from the blond man, Alcide tightens his grip on my arm. Yep, I was right. That was is Debbie. Mr. Hob leads us to a our table and pullsed out my chair for me, I went move in first so that Alcide's back was is to Debbie and her entourage.

It dawns on me that maybe this was why Alcide was so happy about my appearance tonight. He needed a good-looking woman to rub in Debbie's face. Baring the new found appreciation for my and Alcide's similar tastes in ex's, I was am only too happy to fill the role. Even before meeting seeing her, I pegged Debbie as a phony bitch. She was is purposely antagonizing Alcide with her raucous behavior by continually yukking it up to ensure the entire bar's attention stays on her. Alcide's been extremely kind to me - sending me to his sister's for some pampering earlier on and taking me out to eat. Not to mention his ease on the 'ole eyes as well, so helping him out will be no hardship. Never let it be said that Sookie Stackhouse didn't repay a kindness.

The next time Debbie glances our way, I leaned over and brushed a stray curl behind Alcide's ear. He looks surprised, which luckily Debbie couldn't can't see.

"Sookie?"

I just shrugged and then smiled genuinely at him. For once I felt feel confident enough in myself to be flirtatious and thanks to Bill for introducing me to the wonderful world of sex, I now knoew the effects a woman could can have on a man or, in this case, ex-girlfriends.

"Hey, I'm your date, remember? I'm acting date-like," I simply told tell him with a shrug..

I ordered a champagne cocktail feeling very cosmopolitan sophisticated and Alcide orders a Heineken. When our drinks arrived, we clinked them together and toasted to our "joint venture."

"Tell me more about your family," I asked. There aren't many humans in the bar at the moment and the ones that are, weren't aren't thinking about Bill. I enjoyed listening to the rumbling sound of his voice as Alcide proceeds to tell me his father grew up poor yet managed to build his business from the ground up. How he spent years struggling until he finally began to prosper and just as he was starting to tell me about his mother, Debbie Pelt decides to join us. I knew it was only a matter of time before she sauntered up to our table.

She caught catches Alcide off guard since his back was is to her, so when she purrs to him, "Hello, Alcide," his strong face actually quivers.

"Who's your new friend? Did you borrow her for the night?" Debbie asks, her words dripping with sarcasm and condescension.

"Oh, longer than that," I answered with a growing beaming smile that rivals her insincere one.

Did she just imply I was a prostitute? _Puh_-leeze. I look good tonight and jealousy is a bitch, just like her evidently. This dress wasn't isn't cheap and neither is the woman wearing it. She must be just riddled with envy. Well, good. Take your cheap shots, Miss Pelt, 'cause you're about to get paid back in full.

"Really?" Debbie asks with her eyebrows arched, as if she was is befuddled that I would be with Alcide.

"Sookie is a good friend," Alcide says impassively. What was is he thinking? First, he forgot to use my fake name and second, he just had the perfect opportunity to rub me in her face. Well, I guess he's not quite ready to close the door on this relationship just yet. Oh well, there's a sucker born every day minute I guess. I should know. Then Debbie decides to up the ante.

"Oh?" Debbie says, implying that she doubtes I was _just_ a friend. "It wasn't too long ago you told me you'd never have another "_friend_" if you couldn't have…well..." she smirks as she looks down at herself like she was is God's gift and when she looks back up, her face said says that she definitely thought thinks Alcide was is slumming it.

Just for that little slight, I covered Alcide's hand with my own and gave give her a look that implies much.

"Tell me," Debbie says, her lips curling in a skeptical way, "how do you like that birthmark of Alcide's?"

Geez, she was is truly throwing down the bitch gauntlet! Who could've have predicted that she was is willing to be one so openly? Most women try to hide it, at least from strangers and most certainly on first impression!

Alcide turns toward and thought thinks directly at me, _It's on my right butt cheek. It's shaped like a rabbit._

Maybe Alcide _was is_ ready to close that door after all. I was am so surprised that he remember to use my telepathy.  
"I love bunnies," I says, still smiling, my hand drifting down Alcide's back to caress, very lightly, the top of his right buttock.

A look of pure rage passes over Debbie's face, she was is so focused and controlled that her mind becomes open to me, and suddenly…, I was am inside her head. She was is thinking about her owl fiancé and how he wasn't isn't as good in the sack as Alcide, but she could can cheat so that really didn't doesn't matter. and more importantly to her was the fact that he has a lot more money and is willing to have children, which, Alcide isn't. She was is stronger than the owl and that makes her the dominant partner in their relationship. She was is no demon, but she was is nowhere near angel status. The venom rolled is rolling off of her in waves,, and the fact that I know about the birthmark made is making her nuts.

She could might have maybe recovered the situation, but then she made makes a big mistake.

As she rakes over me with a glare that would paralyze a lion, she says, "Looks like you went to Janice's salon today. Janice never sends anyone out looking like they live in this century."

Alcide opens his mouth, rage tensing all of his muscles, but I laid lay my hand on his arm to get his attention.

"What do you think of my hair?" I asked softly, moving my head so that the curls slithered across my bare shoulders and cascaded down my chest. I coyly looked down where they lay and then looked back up at him through my lashes, directing him silently.

His eyes followed and he caught catches on and his eyes followed. He moves his hand to the curls on my breast and delicately caresses them between his fingers without lifting his hand from my bosom. When he looks up at me, he moves his hand to stroke the hair under my neck allowing his knuckles to brush my collarbone on the way up. He looks genuinely thoughtful (and distracted) when he answers huskily, "I think it looks beautiful." Wow. I guess he _was is_ in to win it now because even I bought that hook line and sinker!

"I guess instead of borrowing you, he rented you," Debbie says, goaded into irreparable error.

Well, that was is it. She wasn't isn't implying that I was hooker,hooker; she was is flat out saying it.. I couldn't can't beat Debbie in a fight since she was is shifter, but I haved no intentions of playing fair if it came comes to that. I would will use whatever I could can find to teach this bitch a lesson. I felt feel my primitive self, the truer me, swimming to the surface. We Alcide and I sat sit staring at the shifter and she blanches at our silence.

"Okay, I shouldn't have said that," she said says nervously. "Just forget it."

Oh, I don't think so.

I leaned over and touched one red fingernail to her leather pants and asked, "Wearing Cousin Elsie?"

Unexpectedly, Alcide bursts into laughter and actually doubles over. I laughed with him and watched as Debbie stalksed back to her table. Good riddance. Hopefully she was is done showing her ass for the night but, _just_ to be on the safe side, I decided to not go into the ladies room alone.

A couple of drinks later, I heard hear something from a human at the bar. I asked Alcide to slow dance in an attempt to hear better. Sigh. Alcide was so is warm and I kinda loved the way I felt feel in his arms. Yum. Good to know Bill's abrupt departure didn't hasn't killed my lustfulness. It's somehow relieving to know just how attractive I can find Alcide despite my circumstances. Yay for me! I guess tomorrow is another day after all.

"Sookie, if you'll excuse me, I have to use the men's room."

Smart maneuvering, Alcide.

"Sure," I tell him, "I'll just go stand by the bar 'til you get back."

I could can hear from the human that they had a vampire somewhere being tortured. _Badly_. They wouldn't won't allow him to sleep either.

"Him"..

Bill. It had to be.

Just as I was am getting into it, I was am distracted by a large group of biker Weres to my right.

"Hey, little lady. Why don't you come over here and introduce yourself, seeing as your boyfriend left you and all."

"No, thanks," I say.

"Now that's not too friendly. I'm just trying to make your acquaintance," says the Were.

He was is big and rough looking with salt and pepper hair and a bandana around his head. He just looks hard.

"Don't bother. I'm not a friendly person." I reply calmly.

The man actually snaps a glare at me, his eyes steely, cold and black. _Oopsie_. Seems someone doesn't like to be told no. His cronies stood stand to attention at the new tension filling their buddy. The one behind his right shoulder smiled smiles in anticipation and grows excited. He grips his hard-on while licking his bottom lip back & forth. Oh for the love of all that is good and holy…

I quickly looked around assessed my outs. I saw see a bat behind the bar and decided to go for it. Good thing too because, before I know it, the biker Were is gripping me by my shoulder and yanks me off the top of the bar. I spin round while backing up and raised my arms like a pro baseball player. Damn it! He ripped my sleeve and I'm was bleeding!

"Making friends I see, chere."

Alcide was is against my back facing the other direction. Thank _God_.

"Funny. I was just accused of not being friendly enough. I tried to tell him."

With that, the biker Were went goes for me and I cracked his skull somethin' good, but oh, did that piss him off even more. As he lunges for me a vampire comes over and broke breaks up the ensuing battle.

"That's enough, Jerry," says a fairly short, dark haired vamp, with wavy hair and big brown eyes. He may be short, but he sure did does have presence. The room fell silent immediately and he regally steps in the middle of us.

"This bitch started it, Russell, and I am going to finish it!" Jerry was is snarling and his crew is itching for a showdown. As I noticed that, erection boy swoops past him, and I guess his intention is to go for me except that Russell grabs the bat I'm was holding and promptly smashes his face in. Erection boy went goes flaccid.

The vamp turns back to me and says, "I apologize for Jerry's crude behavior and I see he has committed a blood offense against you. Please, permit me to introduce myself. My name is Russell Edgington, King of Mississippi."

Huh. Well, will you look at ? I certainly stepped in the pooh because guess which human seems to be with Russell's entourage? That's right, the one who drew me closer to the bar in the first place! I have to make this good.

I bow my head and say, "Thank you, sir. I certainly appreciate the apology although it's not your fault. In fact, you came to my rescue. How di-do, my name is Arlene. Arlene Thorton and this here is my boyfriend, Alcide Herveaux."

At this point, I notice the blood is dripping down my arm. I also know protocol, so I know to offer it up to my rescuer. I glance over at my shoulder, and back to Russell and give with him a nod. Hand his eyes light up and. I almost laugh. Vamps are too easy! He takes me up on my offer (of course), and he proceeds to gives my arm a long lick. His eyes snap open wide and he looks up at me in surprise. He watches me and as he licks again…and again…and _again_. Oh, alright already! With his eyes closed and a visible a shudder, the King manages to recompose himself and invites Alcide and myself back to Club Dead the next night evening as his personal guests.

Wow! Maybe I should offer up my blood a little more because it seems to be like Supe kryptonite! I wonder if blood is like wine? If there are certain kinds that taste better than others because I seem to be a particular vintage judging from by the feedback and responses it seems to elicit.

Not that I am complaining mind you because. My blood is the singular thing that seems to have opened a very large door.

* * *

**Jealous Enemies by Dark Captain Light Captain**

Ooh

Ahh...

Are you happy at last?  
Are you lashing out?  
You're lashing out, violently  
We should be on the same team  
And we won't get caught if we move around silently

Ooh...  
Ahh...

Self-righteous and rude  
And you'll catch your death, like an airplane, eventually  
In your dreams, you're seeing death machines, death machines, right through me (ooh...)  
Right through me, right through me, right through me (ahh...)  
Slow arms will come, everything you've been through but your name  
Hold on for jealous enemies will have their day

Ooh...  
Ahh...

Slow arms will come, everything you've been through but your name  
Hold on for jealous enemies will have their day

Slow arms will come, everything you've been through but your name (ooh...)  
Hold on for jealous enemies will have their day (ahh...)


	4. Chapter 4: There Goes My Oufit

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK**

**CHAPTER 4: There Goes My Outfit**

**SOOKIE**

I woke up the next morning still disillusioned. Apparently, a solid nights sleep couldn't shake the indignation I felt toward Debbie Pelt. After that whole Jerry incident, we left Club Dead but when I went to grab my new black pashmina, there were holes burnt into it and when I looked for Debbie, she was gone which only confirmed her guilt in my mind. It was ruined and I cried. Of course I waited until I got to the truck and did it as silently as possible, but I still cried. Alcide saw and thought it was about Jerry. I told him what Debbie had done and he was truly apologetic. It wasn't his fault.

Spending the money to buy myself something was a big move for me, especially considering I could have easily made Eric pay for it. Not that I normally go around accepting handouts or letting anyone buy me anything, which is why this gets my goat even more! I had a rare moment of clarity and despite what was going on, I took a moment to think about myself. I am always considerate and gracious to others. Usually, I'll run straight back into the hands of trouble if that helps out someone who means even the tiniest bit to me. Foolish? Maybe, but that's just how I am. I'll look at the psychological reasons later.

That damn wrap represented my independence despite the jams I seem to be getting into since Bill entered my life. It symbolized that I, Sookie Stackhouse, can take care of myself. It was mine and it was bought by me, with only myself in mind. I felt… crushed. Not only that, but a little scared. I felt like it was an ominous sign that my life would no longer be my own no matter how hard I try to carve out safe places for my spirit to stay warm and nurtured. I wondered if the people I continue to encounter would constantly try and encroach upon me and pick apart bits of my person by any means possible. Maybe I am overreacting, but I just have a bad sense that my life is about to take a critical turn for the unexpected. Why do I feel like I need to protect my soul at all costs?

As I make my way into the kitchen, I notice this rancid smell. What the hell is that? I check the garbage in each room, the fridge for rotting food and even under Alcide's bed. Who knows? Maybe he's like Jason and just sticks his leftover pizza boxes under there. I decide to clean. As I open the closet door, Alcide walks in and it's a good thing too because Jerry falls to the floor at my feet like a sack of potatoes!

"What the…?"

"Oh my god."

"Sookie, Is that who I think it is?"

I just stare at Alcide open mouthed and finally answer, "Alcide, I was just looking for cleaning supplies because it was smelling to high heaven in here!"

"Shit, Sookie! Who could have done this? What the hell is he doing in there? I don't even know where to begin!"

It was at this point that I knew we had to get it together and get Jerry out of here. The great mystery of how Jerry ended up shoved into Alcide's small, dark closet like veal, will have to be solved another time.

Before I know it, I am looking down at the largest larva I have ever seen which only adds to my disturbance level tenfold. I don't know whether to laugh or cry but I end up laughing quite hysterical when I take in the irony. By all accounts, it's the web Bill has woven and trapped us in, which has led Jerry here and I become astonished. Not only with the whole scenario but mostly with myself.

Somehow, I have managed to block out the steps it took to wrap up a dead biker Were in a shower curtain while internally problem solving how to get him out of the apartment, buried somewhere in the sticks and back in time to sanitize Alcide's place all before leaving for Club Dead. How did I get here? Is this some sort of instinctual form of self-preservation? It's either that or a mighty pragmatic work ethic. You just get on with it and do what you have to do. This is beyond what I ever thought myself capable. I feel like a horrible Christian.

I won't get into detail of the lengths Alcide and I went to, to dispose of Jerry's body, but let's just say it was teamwork at its finest. We were like a bumbling Starsky & Hutch, Batman and Robin, a regular ole' Amos and Andy.

We decide that we have no idea how he ended up in Alcide's cupboard, but that someone is blatantly trying to set us up. Of course, I suspect Debbie but Alcide couldn't go that far. Denial is not just a river in Egypt in case you didn't know.

Although I am shaken and stirred, I notice it's already time to put my game face on and with a couple of hours to spare, I start getting ready to go back to Club Dead.

I put on my bra, thong and stockings and slide into my heels to break them in a bit more. As I am blow-drying my hair, I hear a wrapping at my window. Eric! Lo and behold, floating outside the window with a leering smile is the blonde Viking vampire in glasses (glasses?), wearing what looks like a three-piece suit_. What the hell?_ I yelp.

As I quickly throw on my short, silk robe and hastily fasten it, Alcide, meanwhile had already run into my room. Clearly, he is on high alert considering what just happened but that doesn't stop him from ogling my assets as he comes through the door.

"Let me in," Eric loudly whispers.

"Why? What are you doing here?" I snipe back.

"We need to talk. Let me in."

"Alcide? It's up to you." I tell him.

Then I ask Eric, "Can he rescind his invitation after you leave?"

Eric rolls his eyes, "Yes."

Alcide walks over to the window, opens it and gives him wide breadth, "Come in, Eric, " he says flatly.

As he straightens, Eric's already assessing me, "Mmmm, Sookie. I love your outfit," His fangs have run out.

I look down and realize there is a gaping hole in the front of my robe and I scramble to cover up, tucking one side under and clasping the other side closed with my hand in a vice like grip. I look to Alcide whose eyes are also burning with heat and I blush furiously.

Eric looks between the two of us and asks with a low growl, "Am I missing something?"

Um… well… yeah, he was. Last night when we got home, Alcide made a pass at me. Not that I minded. I had asked Alcide to help me with my zipper and as his warm fingers ran the length of my spine, all of a sudden, I felt a gentle kiss on the back of my neck. I stiffened.

"_Sookie." He sounded contrite. "I can't help but think that we would make a great couple if only the timing weren't so bad. I think it's obvious there's attraction between us."_

_I gulped when I turned around to look at him. His eyes were practically glowing and he was thumbing my shoulders with the barest of touches. When I looked at his lips that was all the invitation he apparently needed. _

_Oh. Ohhhh. His lips were so soft and his breath was so hot. He kissed my bottom lip and lightly sucked on it. When he let go, he moved to my top lip and as he did, his tongue came out and grazed the tip of mine so softly, my knees went weak. He pulled back slightly, came back smoothly and opened his mouth fully as his tongue sought mine and entered my mouth. His kiss was so beguiling, I hadn't even noticed that I let go of my dress as my hands moved up and into his curly hair. I grabbed it by the roots and he let out a low growl. He attacked my mouth with more languid intensity and as he was slowly sliding away from our kiss, I sucked and bit on his tongue teasingly and then his bottom lip. We both shuddered._

"_It's not the right time." I whispered while shaking my head. _

_He looked down at me, then my breasts and lightly traced the tops with the pads of his index and middle fingers. He let out a long, shaky exhale. I got goose bumps. Oh yeah, my body reacted to Alcide all right._

"_No. Not the right time but so help me Sookie, when it is…. you're mine."_

As my blush intensified at the memory, Eric's growl was getting louder. He turned to Alcide and states, "I need to speak with Sookie." Alcide looked to me.

"In private," he snaps. It's a dismissal if I ever heard one and I nod my head for Alcide to leave before things get really awkward.

Eric studies me silently for a long while before speaking and I hate to admit it, but I feel a bit cowed…probably because I'm a little ashamed of my reaction to Alcide the night before.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you made another friend. You do seem to collect them."

"Oh, what the hell is that supposed to mean, Eric? And frankly, what business is it of yours?" I am angry now.

"You are in my care Sookie and Alcide is working for me. It is absolutely my business. I take it he did nothing too untoward for you to be reacting to the Were the way you are."

It's more of a statement then a question.

"Oh, Eric! For God's sakes! Nothing happened."

He is in front of me in a blink and his face is partially nuzzled in my hair and I realize he's sniffing me. He moves to my neck, then my face… my lips… hovering over them with his eyes closed taking in my scent. It's more than a little unnerving and completely erotic. My nipples harden and I'm instantly wet. God damn it! Eric's eyes snap open, his eyes brilliant. He stays an inch from my face.

"Seems you're in a bit of a conundrum, my dear Sookie." His fangs are down again.

I try to deflect.

"What's your point, Eric? Why are you here anyway and in glasses and a suit no less? Are you in disguise or something?"

Eric straightens and looks pleased with himself.

"Why yes. What do you think? Do you like it? "

"You look very nice, but dare I ask what you're doing in disguise?"

Alcide knocks on the door and comes in again.

"Eric, what do you mean by leaving the dead man in my closet?"

I have seldom seen Eric at a loss for words, but he is definitely speechless – for all of thirty seconds.

"It wasn't Bubba in the closet, was it?" he asks.

It's our turn to stand with mouths open, Alcide because he doesn't know who the hell Bubba is and me, because I can't imagine what could've happened to the dazed Vampire or that he is even in town to begin with.

I hastily fill Alcide in on Bubba.

"So, who was in the closet?" Eric asks, getting straight to the point. I do love that about him.

"The biker who marked Sookie last night," Alcide says. "He made a pretty rough pass at her while I was in the men's room."

"Marked her?"

"Yes, a blood offense," Alcide says significantly.

"Why didn't you say anything about this to me right away?" Eric raises an eyebrow at me.

"I didn't think it was relevant. Besides, it wasn't much blood." I say, maybe playing it up a teensy.

"Alcide." Eric's upset, "You know you should have informed of this right away. She is in your care and now you tell me the biker who Sookie spurned winds up dead in your closet? You didn't think this information was relevant either?"

Eric looks back to me, "Let me see."

I huff, but I know darn good and well that Eric won't let up so I pull my robe off my shoulder. The fingernail gouges are crusted half-moons, puffy and red, though I'd scrubbed the area carefully the night before. I know how many germs are under fingernails.

"See," I say. "No big deal. I was more mad than scared or hurt."

Eric keeps his eyes on the little nasty wounds until I pull my robe back up.

Then he switches his eyes to Alcide. "And he was dead in the closet?"

"Yes," Alcide tells him. "Had been dead for hours."

"What killed him?"

"He hadn't been bitten," I say. "He looked as though his neck might have been broken. We didn't feel like looking that closely. You're saying you aren't the guilty party?"

"No, though it would have been a pleasure to have done it."

I shrug, not willing to explore that dark thought. "So, who put him there?" I asked to get the discussion going again.

"And why?" Alcide asks.

"Would it be too much to ask where he is now?" Eric looks as if he is indulging two rowdy children.

Alcide and I shoot each other glances. "Um, well, he's ..." My voice trails away.

Eric inhales, sampling the apartment's atmosphere. "The body's not here. You called the police?"

"Well, no," I mutter. "Actually, we, ah ..."

"We dumped him out in the country," Alcide says. There just isn't a nice way to say it.

We have surprised Eric a second time. "Well.." he says blankly, "aren't you two quite the duo?"

"We worked it all out," I say, maybe sounding a tad defensive.

Eric smiles. It is not a happy sight. "Yes, I'll bet you did."

"The Packmaster came to see me today," Alcide says. "Just now, in fact. And he didn't know that Jerry was missing. In fact, Jerry went complaining to Terence after he left the bar last night, telling Terence he had a grievance against me. So, he was seen and heard after the incident at Josephine's."

"So, you may have gotten away with it."

"I think we did."

After more assurances that the scent is gone and that we did, in fact, do the best we could've, Eric informs us he will be at the club tonight, as Leif, Alcide's friend from out of town who been invited to meet me specifically.

Huh. I wonder if Eric had planned on being front and center in this charade all along or if he was trying to go incognito until he found out about Jerry? After all, he assumed it was Bubba in the closet. Does that mean he sent him to keep an eye on me? If so, why is he even here? So, I ask him.

"There may be something I can pick up on that you won't hear of, or that Alcide won't know because he is not a vampire," Eric says reasonably. "Excuse us for a minute, Alcide. Sookie and I have some business to discuss."

As soon as Alcide leaves, Eric says abruptly, "Do you want me to heal the marks on your shoulder?"

I thought of the ugly, crusty crescents, and I almost say yes, but then I have second thoughts. "How would I explain that, Eric? The whole bar saw him grab me."

"You're right." Eric shakes his head, his eyes closed, as if he is angry with himself. "Of course. You're not Were, you're not undead. How would you have healed so quickly?"

"Sookie," Eric takes my hands tenderly and looks me in the eye, "I have searched high and low for Bill following any and all vampire scents throughout Jackson and I am afraid that it is likely Bill is dead. Finally dead."

I rock backward and Eric swoops me up quick as tripe and carries me to the rocking chair in the corner. He cradles me in his lap and says, "I am sorry about my approach. I thought it would be best to rip the band-aid off quickly. Instead it was…"

"Shocking. Inhumane." A tear slides down my face and Eric licks it off. I still don't get that.

"I think it's time you tell me about Bill's secret project."

"Is that what all this is about?" I shoot off his lap and stand glaring at him.

"You pretend to look out for my welfare, get on my good side so you can manipulate me into giving you what you really want? You God damn vampires! You know, you'd save a lot of time and effort if you tried things directly, but I guess because you guys feel you have all the time in the world you have to make it more interesting! Must get tedious having it all figured out, huh? If this is how you choose to amuse yourselves! Pathetic… sick excuse for living if you ask me!"

Eric gets up slowly and toweres over me. His fangs are huge. I have never seen them that big. I guess they get longer the more excited or angry the vamp is?

"You. Stupid. Naïve. Woman. I think Bill is gone and I am trying to save all of our lives!" His anger is simmering to a boil.

"I. Will. Find. Bill. You do your spying tonight and I will do mine and mark my words, I will find him and I will bring him back, Eric. We are invited to sit with Russell as his personal guests and I know he is on his compound."

"He is gay, Sookie, you cannot charm him in your usual ways." He hisses.

He better not be talking about my chest.

"I'll do what it takes and I hope you will too."

"They have had him for days now, Sookie." Eric is looking at me with pity.

I know that look. It's similar to the "crazy Sookie" looks I am used to getting. He thinks I'm foolish to have hope but I would know if Bill was dead. I would feel it. Right?

* * *

As we make our way to Russell's table, I recognize my first problem of the evening. Tara Thorton. What the hell is she doing here? I have to think fast and I don't have much time. Thankfully, Russell stands to greet us before Tara turns around.

"Arlene! Alcide! It is good to see you both again and I could make up for last night's incident!"

Tara turns and she immediately gasps, so I interrupt her.

"Tara! Do you remember me? Your old friend Arlene! It's been ages girl!"

I have to give Tara credit. Despite a momentary twitch at the corners of her mouth, she plays it off. Thank you, _Jesus_. Maybe I do have a guardian angel looking out for me after all

"Arlene? Oh my goodness! You look amazing! It's been so long. What are you doing here?"

"I am here visiting my new boyfriend. Alcide Herveaux, meet a close friend of his from out of town. We were here last night and Russell kindly invited us to join his party this evening after a little…_incident_." I tell her, praying she is getting the message. Considering she herself seems to be with a vamp, I am hoping she is sharp enough to hold her tongue until we have some privacy.

After more introductions, I excuse myself to the ladies asking Tara if she would join me. Once I make sure we we're safely ensconced (Word of the Day), I beg her.

"Tara, please, don't say anything about Bill or anything about Bon Temps."

"You want to tell me why?"

"Just ..." I tried to think of something reasonable, can't. "Tara, it'll cost me my life if

you do."

She gives me a steady stare. Who wouldn't? But Tara has been through a lot in her life, and she is a tough, if wounded, bird.

"I'm so happy to see you here," she says. "It was lonely being in this crowd by myself. Who's your friend? What is he?"

I nearly forgot that the public don't know about Weres and shifters and I always forget that other people can't tell in general. "He's a surveyor," I say, "and a Were. Most of all, Tara, please just play along and don't forget to call me Arlene. Oh…I also used your last name so you can say were distant cousins."

She looks a little appalled, can't say I blame her, but I plead with my eyes and I can see her relent. Again.

When we go back to the table, it's her turn to introduce me to who she is with.

"Arlene, this is Franklin Mott."

"A pleasure to meet you," I say, "Do you live here in Jackson, Mr. Mott?" I am determined not to embarrass Tara.

"Please call me Franklin," he says. He has a wonderful mellow voice with a light Italian accent. When he died, he had probably been in his late fifties or early sixties but he looks vigorous and very masculine. "Yes, I do, but I own a business that has a franchise in Jackson, one in Ruston, and one in Vicksburg. I met Tara at a gathering in Ruston."

Gradually we progress through the social do-si-do of getting seated, explaining to the men how Tara and I had attended high school together, and because we have the same last name and live in the same area, people assumed we must be distant cousins of some sort even thought we don't know our full family history. I just pray they buy that and got to ordering drinks. The waitress, a shifter, is moving in an odd, almost slinking manner as the night of the full moon makes itself felt in all kinds of ways.

The other human in Russell's entourage is Talbot and he is the man I happened to hear the night before. I sandwiched myself between him and Alcide, and thankfully, Talbot is a talker as well as a big broadcaster. His thoughts tell me he is a man in love, and furthermore, a man addicted to vampiric sex ... the two states are not always combined. He is a ruthless, intelligent man who cannot understand how his life has taken such an exotic turn.

He tells me about the spell on the bar. "But the way, what happens here is kept a secret, that's different," Talbot says, as if he is considering a long answer and a short answer. I looked at his pleasant, handsome face and remind myself that he knows Bill is being tortured, and he doesn't care. I wish he would think about Bill again, so I can learn more; at least I would know if Bill was dead or alive.

"Well, Miss Arlene, what goes on here is kept secret by terror and punishment," Talbot says this with relish.

He likes this fact. He likes that he has won the heart of Russell Edgington, a being who could kill easily and deserves to be feared.

"Any vampire or Were - in fact, any sort of supernatural creature, and you haven't seen quite a few of them, believe me - who brings in a human is responsible for that human's behavior. For example, if you were to leave here tonight and call a tabloid, it would be Alcide's bounden duty to track and kill you."

"I see." And indeed, I do. "What if Alcide couldn't bring himself to do that?"

"Then his life would be forfeit, and one of the bounty hunters would be commissioned to do the job."

Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea.

"There are bounty hunters?"

"Sure. You certainly know them, the Weres who wear the motorcycle gear. In fact, they're asking questions around the bar tonight because ..." His expression sharpens, becomes suspicious. "The man who was bothering you ... did you see him again last night? After you left the bar?"

"No," I say, speaking the technical truth. I hadn't seen him…_last_ _night_. I knew what God thought about technical truths, but I also figure he expects me to save my own life.

"Alcide and I, we went right back to the apartment. I was pretty upset." I cast my eyes down like a modest girl who's unused to being approached in bars, which was also a few steps away from the truth.

"You were sure plucky when it looked like there was going to be a fight," Talbot observed. Talbot's thinking that my courage last night didn't jibe with my demure demeanor this evening. Darn it! I've overplayed my role.

"Plucky is the word for Arlene," Tara rescues. It's a welcome interruption. "When we danced together on stage, about a million years ago, she was the one who was brave, not me! I was shaking in my shoes."

Thank you, Tara.

"You danced?" asks Franklin, his attention caught by the conversation.

"Oh, yes, and we won the talent contest," Tara tells him. "What we didn't realize, until we graduated and had some experience in the world, was that our little routine was really, ah…"

"Suggestive," I fill in, calling a spade a spade. "We were the most innocent girls in our little high school, and there we were, with this dance routine we lifted straight off MTV."

"It took us years to understand why the principal was sweating so hard," Tara says, her smile just rascally enough to be charming. "As a matter of fact, let me go talk to the deejay right now." She springs up and works her way over to the vampire who's set up his gear on the small stage. He bends over and listens intently, and then he nods.

"Oh, no." I am going to be horribly embarrassed.

"What?" Alcide is amused.

"She's going to make us do it all over again."

Sure enough, Tara wiggles her way through the crowd to get back to me, and she is beaming. I thought of twenty-five good reasons not to do what she wanted by the time she seizes my hands and pulls me to my feet. But it was evident that the only way I could get out of this is to go forward. Tara has her heart set on this exhibition, and Tara is my friend. The crowd made a space as Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield" begins to play.

Unfortunately, I remembered every bump and grind and every hip thrust.

I can't believe I am doing this, but here I am shaking my assets in front of every Supe in the room. I decide to just allow myself to go with it. I love to dance and I do it well so I might as well enjoy myself. Tara and I sway in time against each other and circle each other like prey. I feel the tension rise in the room and I have to admit, it feels good to be an object of attraction. Normally people dismiss me, except for the lewd opinions I hear others thinking about my body parts and those are usually accompanied with a proceeding thought like; '_if only she wasn't so crazy because…' _

When the song ends, Tara's standing behind me caressing my hips and I catch Eric watching us intensely. There is obvious desire in his eyes and for a moment I feel clear longing. I'm just not sure if that's coming from me or him.

As we make our way back to the table, I'm stopped a few times by some vamps asking for a dance. I politely decline and in my periphery, I catch Eric inching forward. When I sit in my seat next to Alcide, he looks angry. I lean into him, playing my part and behaving as if I was in the mood and ask, "What's wrong?"

He's tense and I read clearly that he is pissed over admitting how hung up he still is on Debbie because if he played his cards closer to his chest, he would have made sure to have me in his bed this evening. Presumptuous much?

Before we left tonight, Alcide had surprised me with a gift. He replaced the pashmina Debbie ruined. At first, I was so touched by the thoughtful gesture that I teared up. But then the worm turned a little. Alcide said he was taking some responsibility for his part in all of this. He told me he knows Debbie would never have acted so aggressively if Alcide wasn't trying to kid them both about the fact that it was over between them. He said that if he didn't make such a show with me, she would've been content to be her normal bitchy self but because she knows him like a book, she was forcing his hand.

I wasn't quite sure what to think about his confession. The night before he seemed determined to get over her and when the time was right, come back for me his when he did. His act was out of guilt, more for making Debbie feel the way she did to behave that way in the first place, than because of her slightly frightening violation toward me. I decided I could never be with Alcide, not as long as Debbie was in the picture in _any_ capacity. Not that I really wanted to be anyway. I have my hands full with conflicted men. I don't really need another one waiting in the wings.

Talbot notices Alcide being rude to me and clearly feels badly. He compliments my dancing and tries to flatter me by saying that if he was a straight man, he would go to great lengths to be by my side all night. I thank him, thinking that was a very graceful dig Alcide.

I decide to go to the bar to get a drink. Alcide is still sulking and frankly, it's really starting to irritate me. As I made my way, I hear thoughts.

"_Make sure to send a message. Stake the woman in the hat. She is the closest."_

I scan the area panicked and see the vamp I was introduced to earlier - at the end of the bar by the darts board. Her name is Betty Jo Pickard and there is a human standing to her left who looks edgy. I am surprised none of the Supes picked up on what seems to me, an obvious high state of anxiousness. Then again, when you're top of the food chain, I suppose it's harder to get over yourself.

I move quickly as I see him reach into his jacket and I read from his brain that he is pulling out a stake, so I scream; "STAKE!" and all vamps hit the deck.

The human spins on me, my eyes go wide and before I know it, I am reading his thoughts as he plunges the stake into my left side.

As I drop to my knees in shock and awe, I realize he thought nothing of me and reacted more on instinct to defend himself. But then he thinks, _"Someone is better than no one. I don't want to die for nothing."_

At that point, Betty Joe plucks him backward and throws him against the dartboard. She punches him straight in the face and crushes his skull.

My hands are furiously shaking and look down at my side in pure horror and touch the stake jutting out. I hear Tara screaming in the background to call 911 and know that's impossible.

As I collapse to my knees and then sink on my heels to my butt, I have the wherewithal to brace myself on my hands and crabwalk backward to lay myself down. I am bleeding profusely and I am dying. I have an outer body experience of what I looked like from above.

I am a glorious blonde, broken down doll with a pool of blood seeping through her clothes and onto the floor. I imagine what it looks like to see the vamps descended on me like vultures and wait for that to happen.

This is it. This is my life so far.

It's a lot to process and I am choking on my anger. The tears in my eyes are not from the pain, I feel none yet, but because of outrage. My fucking life so far has been a series of massive fits and starts and I die on a fruitless mission alone, betrayed and unloved. The person who would mourn me most is dead and this causes me to feel wrath, as I've never known. This fact makes me scream out of self-pity and pure unadulterated anguish.

Tara is over me, "They won't let you die! You just saved a vampire! They can't! They owe you!"

I pray she won't use my real name in her panic.

I am being surrounded and a wolf comes over and licks my face. He sniffs my side, howls and takes off like a shot.

Alcide. I hope it was Alcide.

"Tara," I whisper, "There is a good looking blonde vampire name Leif. Get him. He is in the corner."

I look through clouded eyes; Eric is stock still and yet on the verge. He hears me direct Tara and does an upright knee slide over to me. He looks like he wanted to pick me up, take me, lick me, bite me and fuck me all at once and doesn't know where to begin. I never imagined seeing a vampire so human in their indecision.

"Leif…you can't. Don't. Please."

"I know. It's just so hard. You have no idea…" Eric whispers.

"I can imagine, but if you do, they all will. Help. Will you help me?" I beg softly through whimpered tears.

Eric turns to Russell who sits transfixed looking upside down at me, with his knees on either side of my head like a vice.

"I am a friend of Alcide's. I have to get her out of here."

"We owe her the healing." Russell seems to slur but in the next instant shakes himself and says, "you will bring her to my home. Let's go."

Eric moves to my other side to lift me and avoid the stake sticking out of my left. He seems to regain his composure and I feel his determination. Or maybe I read it from his face. Either way, I feel nothing but pure gratitude. He has made a decision and he is helping me.

More tears fall from my eyes and I feel oddly comforted because at least I know I won't die alone now. I raise my limp hand over his heart to try and tell him that I won't forget this. That I know I am indebted. He looks down at me, but I can't read the expression on his face before I black out.

* * *

**A/N**: Eric's POV next

**There Goes My Outfit by The Dears**

All right, all right already you got me  
Broke inside and took it all away  
Had a speech prepared and everything  
Tapped phone calls from God

And now I've found a new connection  
Being bored is really such a chore  
Some of us out here don't know shit  
Some of us don't even want to know

Clearly this is my life  
There goes, there goes, there goes my outfit  
And I was only trying to help  
I was only trying to help

Just admit, I've got you by the lapels  
They trashed me over over and again  
You stood there and you said nothing  
That's what shattered my heart to bits

Clearly this isn't my life  
I'm in the dirt and in the gutter  
I've got mud and blood all over my face  
Clearly this isn't my life  
There goes, there goes, there goes, there goes my outfit  
And I was only trying to help

Clearly this isn't my life  
Clearly this can't be my life


	5. Chapter 5: Scar Tissue

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK**

**CHAPTER 5: Scar Tissue**

**Eric**

"She has lost consciousness but at least this way she won't feel anything. I think she may have nicked a kidney," I say to Russell as we reach the door.

Russell nods in agreement with my medical diagnosis as we headed to the limo. I open the door and lay Sookie down on the seat as gently as I can and then move around to the opposite side to pull her the rest of the way in. I rest her head in my lap as I take my seat across from Russell and his sidekick. I keep the conversation light whilst trying not to show too much affection for Sookie, lest I arouse suspicion from the men. I feel something as I look down at this oddly brave human woman in such a state. I brush the hair out of her face since it was sticking to her from all the sweat she expired. Even her sweat smells sweet. Hmmm, interesting.

Noticing the wandering eye of Russell's companion, I smooth down her dress so that she can keep at least a small amount of her dignity. Although her dress is skimpy, I surmise Sookie to be a more modest woman than the majority of her peers. Also, gay or not, I realized at that moment I didn't want any man looking at Sookie in that way other than myself. Yes, I think I want her as my own.

As I fiddle with her dress, Sookie regains consciousnesses long enough to ask me if her garters are showing. What garters? Even on her potential deathbed, the little Southern Belle is worried she may look inappropriate. I was right about her modesty and yet this woman truly was an enigma to me still. It has been so long since that's happened. Before I can assure her of her propriety, she goes out again, thankfully. Pulling me out of my observational mode, Russell's sidekick starts bombarding me with questions.

"How did she know that the man had a stake?"

I didn't expect that question. It is smart and I have to pull this off. I recover quickly and say reasonably, "I am assuming she saw it based on where she was by the bar."

"Lucky for Betty Jo," Russell comments.

My response seemed to cure their curiosity and we remain silent for the rest of our journey. I am relieved to have a few moments to concoct a plausible story in case I am questioned further. Sookie has ensured our entrance into Russell's house, but getting out will be another thing altogether. The fact that she has saved a vampire who happens to be Russell's right hand does indeed warrant Sookie a healing, which I fully intend to enhance by giving her my own blood. Why I feel compelled to do this is still a mystery to me. I haven't given my blood to another human since I turned Pam, and now, with this woman, it will be the second time I have allowed her to have my blood.

I am not my usual self in regard to her and my preoccupation is disproportionate. It's not only that I want to have sex with her, which I do. Intensely. However, I can at least admit to myself it is more than that. I seem to want her to be mine and mine alone. In fact, she already is, she just doesn't realize it yet. If she only knew the extent of what Bill passing her to me actually means in our world. Which is why she didn't think I might help her tonight…but I always look to take care of my own, as she'll soon find out.

I'm finding that the real beauty of having Sookie Stackhouse waltz into my life is that my normal tricks, quite surprisingly, don't work. She is a challenge in the good old-fashioned sense and I _love_ a true challenge. Life as a vampire can be so boring. Sookie was right when she accused us of creating dramatic schemes and manipulations in order to entertain ourselves. They are feeble attempts to make our lives so much more.

Oftentimes, I feel as if I only use an eighth of my brain. I cannot glamour her, but even if I could, I wouldn't want her that way, at least not now. This is an opportunity a vampire as old as myself rarely, if ever, gets and I much prefer for her to come to me willingly. I am worthy of that and this bold woman is worthy of me. She continues to surprise me.

I will have to worm my way into her heart through the normal subversive tactics it seems. I am a patient vampire and although she has told me that she is done with our kind, I am sure it will not be long until she is in my bed and calling herself my lover. I feel a smile curling at the edges of my mouth. Oh, yes. I like the thought of that.

I have seen and had more beautiful women and although there is no doubt she is, it is her personality that so intrigues me most - that stubborn wilfulness, her desire to be independent and not possessed by anyone or anything. I recognize that drive in myself. It's an admiral trait because it means that self-preservation will prevail and she will make intelligent decisions to ensure she is still standing. Like tonight - with me. She begged for my help and found a way to acknowledge the debt. Of course, little does she know, she is in my retinue and was hurt while under my charge. That means I would do what it took regardless of my feelings for her.

Feelings?

Where did those come from?

I can't believe I just fucking thought that. What's wrong with me? It's as if she's cast some sort of spell. I am more than mildly annoyed at this turn of events but I suppose it's just something about her, and the sooner I figure out what this means, the better.

I look at her in my lap, my brave, fierce Sookie, lying broken and bleeding with a stake in her side because of her faithfulness to a man who utterly betrayed her in more ways than one. I would fucking kill him myself if the Queen hadn't hired him, he is so inept. Why Bill? I will see to it that he pays for this dearly, one way or the other. If Sookie is able to rescue Bill, I wonder if she will finally see him for the imbecile that he is. I wasn't kidding when I told her she would make a good vampire. In fact, she would be extraordinary. This sort of loyalty is rarely seen in humans and I imagine as a vampire, she would be beyond fierce all the more for it.

My thoughts are again disrupted as we pull up to the house and I begin the daunting task of extricating Sookie from the limo as painlessly as possible. There is just no easy way to do this and she will feel pain regardless. I move quickly to get her in the compound and of course, it is full of gay men and vampires. As I take in our surroundings, I'm not surprised someone in Russell's position keeps himself amused in this manner.

He had gone ahead when we arrived and now meets us in the foyer with a small middle-aged human who is a doctor. He promptly gives Sookie a large shot that is filled with pain medicine and she wakes when he jabs her. It seems to take affect immediately as she relaxes in my arms and takes in our surroundings as well. She gazes at me with cloudy eyes and says, "Water, water, everywhere nor any drop to drink." She sort of giggles and I roar with laughter. To think that this simple barmaid from Bon Temps has read _The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner_. Yet another surprise and though I was relieved that she was out of pain, I feared that Sookie wouldn't be in control of her mind enough to keep our charade going.

As we ascend the sweeping spiral staircase, Sookie comments that we are just like Rhett and Scarlett. I don't understand her reference and when I say as much, Sookie's jaw goes slack and looks at me in stupor and asks, "You haven't seen _Gone with the Wind_?" I look at her with feigned ignorance after realizing she is referring to the scene in the movie where Rhett carries Scarlett up a staircase very similar to this one. I need to keep her thoughts away from anything serious, so I ask who Rhett and Scarlett are. She informs me that I will have to watch the movie on video. I would certainly do so as long as I watch it with Sookie, preferably naked and in my bed.

Then, she must have picked up on something because she whisper's, "He's here."

I cover for us quickly by saying, "Russell, yes. But I'm afraid that Alcide made less than a stellar choice, Arlene. He raced off into the night after the other attacker. He should have stayed with you."

I know Sookie is attracted to Alcide but my decision to have her is practically made. If given the chance to point out the glaring differences between her would-be, half-assed suitors and myself? Then I will seize it especially if it is only the truth.

She pleases me by expansively saying, "Screw him."

"He wishes, especially after seeing you dance," I tell her.

I too was very turned on by that little performance. She was exquisite when she moved to the beat of the music and I could tell that she has natural rhythm. Add to that what Compton probably taught her, I know that when I do have her it will have been worth my wait. I got hard just thinking about it.

Sookie surprised me further when she acknowledged that giving her drugs maybe wasn't such a good idea in order to keep up appearances. That's twice now I was right in what I read about her. She understands self-preservation.

We reach the bedroom where she will be healed and I place her gently on the four-poster bed. I sit on her right so the healer can have access to her injury but I suddenly realize the volatile predicament we were in. The vampires will expect me to glamour her so that she doesn't feel any pain when the stake is removed. If they realize that Sookie cannot be glamoured they will know that she is not entirely human. We could be seriously fucked here.

Most human minds are only too eager to be bent, lost and invaded. It's why drugs and alcohol are abused. Most people want to relinquish their personal control and escape the mundane patterns or horrors of their lives. We vampires provide the ultimate fantasy. Is it any wonder why we are at the top of the food chain? The ability to glamour alone provides an unfair advantage over our prey. The downside of coming out is that the thrill is unfortunately gone. Many humans are now motivated, thrill seeking food who know some of our secrets and expect to get something out of it in return. They will give up pieces of themselves in order to lose control of what's happening to them. Not Sookie though.

This is yet another revelation for me.

I suddenly grasp the concept that if Sookie would hand over her will to me, I _could_ glamour her, but _only_ if she is willing. Right about now, I hope the pain will be more than she cares to endure.

Ray Don, a thin blond vampire, enters and I tell Sookie that his gift is having an extra supply of the toxins in his saliva that allow vampires to heal so quickly. Ray Don will begin the process by feeding on a donor and when the toxin is released, he will remove the stake and clean her wound with his healing saliva.

She takes this information in stride and seems to comprehend what I am saying because she next says, "Well, lets get this show on the road." I have to admire her spirit because she is in for a horrible experience. Especially considering I can't glamour her to take away the pain. She clearly doesn't quite realize the torture that she will suffer will be monumental. _Fucking_ Compton. This should be his worthless body lying here with a stake in it. With this in mind I sit closer to Sookie and pin her shoulders with my hands.

I tell her to look at me and she does but it does little good at this point. When Ray Don finishes his feeding he comes to the bed with a bloody mouth, Sookie turns to watch him approach and a look of terror grows on her face. I shake her gently to try and regain her attention but as Ray Don puts his mouth to her wound and his hand goes to the stake, Sookie goes completely white. I watch as all of the blood drains from her face when she realizes what's about to happen. Then she lets out a scream that rips right through me. I do not like witnessing her anguish.

I let go of her shoulders and she grabs my hands and digs in her nails so hard, she draws blood. I hardly notice I am so engrossed in my effort to glamour her. She catches my eyes and I tell her to just "LET GO".

Silly girl releases my hands thinking she is hurting me.

"You can hold on to me as long as you want. Let go of the pain. Let go. You need to drift away."

As I say these words to her I can feel my influence taking hold. She is allowing me to do this. I know she does not completely trust me, so mentally I pat myself on the back for being right a fourth time in regard to Sookie. Her pain was so great that she was relinquishing her will to me.

Despite why she is doing this, I still know the enormity of what is transpiring. Her trust is at a precariously fragile state right now and she is as vulnerable to me as a gazelle lying down in front of a hungry lion.

I am feeling something again in my chest, which is unfamiliar. I can't identify it immediately and as I decide to put it away for later examination, Ray Don pulls away from his cleansing of the wound.

His eyes are hooded and he inhales deeply while licking his lips slowly. He looks at me and drawls slowly, as if he was drunk; "She is…_delicious_. I would make her my human if I didn't prefer men."

I emit a very low growl as I tell him; "I will stay with her as she rests. She will need new clothes in order to leave. Do you think someone could come back in a couple of hours with something for her? I will pay."

"Oh, that won't be necessary. We have enough queens here, I'm sure we can wrangle up something for her," says Ray Don as he wipes Sookie's blood off his face.

After he cleanses himself, he looks down at the towel a little forlornly and then holds it up to his face and takes a huge whiff. He looks directly at me when he removes it and smiles smugly, showing his fangs. I want to fucking murder him.

Another human comes in and cut Sookie's beautiful dress from her body. I am stunned by what I see and needless to say, I enjoy the view immensely. Her voluptuous body is total perfection. Better than I'd ever imagined, which staggers me because I have already seen her from the waist up, but nothing compares to seeing her in full.

Her breasts are large, taut and tear shaped. Her nipples, through the sheer bra are proportioned perfectly and I already knew they are my favorite color. She has a tiny waist which only serves to accentuate the flare of her round, supple hips and ass. Her stomach is flat and toned with a line running down the center, but it's her skin that does me in. Her skin is flawless and perfectly tanned to a healthy golden color. She is a Rubens painting come to life, and oh, I want to fuck her and lick her and taste her over and over and over again. I can't imagine getting tired of this creation and I am even more baffled as to why Bill chose to go back to that crazy bitch of a maker of his.

Except for that nasty hole where the stake had been, Sookie is the picture of health. All that deliciously warm blood running through those veins? Her _vein_s. I shudder and refocus on the hole, which is now scarring up, which means it's healing. Good. When I look at it, all I see is Bill Compton's ugly mug and all the ways that I would repay him for his madness. Never mind, for the moment, as my blood will make her good as new, if not better than before and it seems that my cock likes the idea of this very much.

I might be calling in that debt she thinks she owes me sooner rather than later.

* * *

I was lost in my restful thoughts when I feel Sookie wake, but during those hours I came to a few more conclusions. Some of them I am not so sure I am entirely enthused about and others, I can't wait to get to.

When I laid Sookie more fully on the bed, I stripped down to my silk boxers and stared. I had her right where I wanted her, so I crawled in alongside her. That was twice now in as many nights. I stretched my leg across Sookie's body and propped myself on my elbow to look down upon her. As I took in her long eyelashes, upturned nose and amazingly plump, full lips, the desire to wake her from her glamour-induced slumber was strong.

Of course, I have too much respect for myself to ever take a woman by force never mind unconscious. That is not beneath some of my kind for they do not see humans as more than Happy Meals on legs and it's not that I have much regard for human kind myself, but I do have a modicum of honor and I've certainly never had a problem with women. As I said, I do love a challenge and this human in particular I am coming to regard more and more. I may be an opportunist at times, but I am no rogue. It would be an act tantamount to rape to take Sookie in this current state, yet another violation of her body and soul to attempt such a thing. Of _course_….I allow myself a few soft touches.

Sookie mentioned once that our hair was almost the same exact color. I took the opportunity to examine it more closely. I lifted my hand from under my cheek and pulled strands of our hair out in front of me. They were intertwined and almost indistinguishable. For some reason, I liked this and I fanned our hair out behind our heads to watch our strands tangle together. I laid back on my side, this time fully and with my cheek on my bicep. I moved into the crook of her neck but not so closely that it would frighten her when she woke. I draped my arm across her chest and rubbed soft, lazy circles on her shoulder with the pads of my fingers, feeling the scars left by that Were.

In fact, I decided to take it upon myself to heal those wounds and I brought the index finger of my right hand, up to my fang and pierced. I quickly reached over to rub my blood into the scar tissue that had begun to form. My blood should at least leave her shoulder unblemished but just like the Maenad wounds; the injury from the stake would remain. They would be faint, but she would always see them and serve as a reminder.

I leaned back to watch the marks disappear. When they did, I moved to clean the blood off. I positioned myself between her legs and kneeled above her body. I looked at her shoulder and then back at her splayed form and felt a surge of pride. I liked seeing my blood on her. I more than liked it. I wanted to cover her in it and have her drink from me while I fuck her senseless.

Even harmed from battle she looked nothing short of dignified with her hair strewn out on the pillows and her chest taking deep, relaxed breaths. She was a little warrior this one.

Before I finished cleaning off all of my blood from her oh-so-tasty skin, I dabbed a bit of it on the center of her bottom lip. I leaned back again to look at her and felt this overwhelming impulsive need to impale myself in her and bite her fucking face off. Av gudarna... I sigh. Instead, I curbed my natural instinct to claim her in every way possible and leisurely licked the blood off that pouty lip. Finally, I moved to stretch myself back against her right side. Of _course_, I throw a possessive limb or two across her body.

Between her alluring scent, watching the blood pump in that artery in her neck and touching this velvet skin of hers, I find myself intoxicated. Add to which, I reflect upon her relentless attitude to see this mission through despite the costs. Sookie is beautiful, but not only that, she is smart and loyal. She has a sense of fun and adventure and she is brave. Oh, so very brave and I find myself picking up her hand to lay kisses on her fingertips, giving them light licks with my tongue. She is responsible and hardworking and quite possibly has the most beautiful breasts I've ever seen.

She will most definitely be my lover.

And she is fully awake now, looking at her wound.

"It's much better," I tell her.

"Thank you, Eric." Her voice is shaky and I wonder if it's time to collect my debt.

"For what?" My hand gently strokes her stomach.

"For standing by me in the club. For coming here with me. For not leaving me alone with all these people."

"How grateful are you?" I whisper with my mouth hovering over hers. I wonder if she would still feel my influence and bore into her gaze.

"That kind of ruins it, when you say something like that," she says, trying to keep her voice gentle.

Nope. I gather she is not feeling the influence so much anymore. I chuckle to myself because she is trying to remain grateful and yet her temper is just below the surface. Let's see how willful she remains.

"You shouldn't want me to have sex with you just because I owe you."

"I don't really care why you have sex with me, as long as you do it," I say, matching her tone, but I'm not waiting anymore. That was enough of a signal and I am seizing this moment.

I nuzzle her mouth and push against it as my tongue sweeps against its pliancy. She is so very tasty and I gently tug and suck at her top lip and then her bottom, using my lips, teeth and fangs. All while keeping my tongue softly in motion, repeatedly teasing the inside rims of her lips, teeth and tongue with a light touch, going in slightly deeper every so often. I have had many years to practice my technique and am using them to good advantage. She responds.

Her hands sneak up to my shoulders, and I am caught by another scent. She is aroused and it sends me into a near frenzy.

I roam and touch her everywhere. Pulling at her erect nipples through her bra and rubbing them firmly with the flat of my thumb. I scrape my fangs along her neck and move down to her right breast to suckle her through the material. I practically devour her tit as I massage and squeeze the underside so that her nipple is protruding into my mouth like a beacon while I circle it with my tongue like a sloppy dog. I am fucking beside myself as the material becomes more saturated with my saliva and I can see half of her exposed areola. The taunt of that slight reveal ends what little patience I have.

I go for the gold and slide my finger under the elastic of her (minimal) panty and glide right into her. I close my eyes and smile to myself, as I am home free. Ahhh, that's my girl. She is _wet_. So very wet that I have to admit I am surprised (yet again) because despite the knowledge of my prowess, Sookie has just been through a severely traumatic experience and yet, she is more than ready for me. Score one for Northman.

I resolve that I am going to make her come harder than she could ever imagine. I am going to wipe the memory of Bill off the face of her planet. I am fingering the fuck out of her and she is loving every fucking second of it, as she _should_.

I am crazed. I start sucking her tongue into my mouth to the rhythm of my fingers as she undulates her hips deeper and deeper to meet them. Yes, that's right, my lover, I am going to claim you tonight in every possible way and you _are_ going to be ready. I was prepping her for me with my index and middle fingers and I think she's just about ready for a third because her hands and fingers began to mindlessly rub up and down my back, my arms, my spine, my ass and she is whimpering and groaning. Just as I move my thumb to her clit while curling my fingers to find her G-spot and blow her mind some more, that fucking cretin Bubba opens a window.

"Miss Sookie! Mr. Eric! I tracked you down!" Bubba was proud.

"Oh, good for you, Bubba," I say dryly, none too happy about ending our little session. Sookie clamps her hand on my wrist, and pulls it away. I allow her to do it of course. She is nowhere near as strong as the weakest vampire.

"Bubba, have you been here the whole time? Here in Jackson?" Sookie manages to ask. I actually don't know what to think about that.

Bubba explains how I sent him to keep a close eye on her and when he saw me carrying her out of the club, he followed us. The irony. Sookie thanks him, of course, while I want nothing more than to crush his skull.

Then the hammer drops.

"Miss Sookie, what you doing in bed with Mr. Eric if Bill is your boyfriend?"

"That's a real good question, Bubba," She answers, embarrassed and tries to sit up, but of course, she can't. She makes a little pain sound, and I curse in Swedish. I cannot believe the halfwit has the ability to make her feel guilty.

"I am going to give her blood, Bubba," I tell the idiot. "Let me tell you what I need you to do."

Once his recon mission is outlined he climbs back out the window leaving me to deal with a remiss Sookie and convince her to take my blood. That fact that I am more than willing to do this is an honor none except my children have had the privilege of having.

"Sookie," I say in a coercing tone, "we could have a long argument about you taking

my blood, and I know everything you would say. But the fact is, dawn is coming. I don't

know if you will be allowed to stay the day here or not. I will have to find shelter, here or

elsewhere. I want you strong and able to defend yourself; at least able to move quickly."

"I know Bill is here," she says, after she thinks this over for a moment. "And no matter what we almost just did - thank God for Bubba - I need to find Bill. The best time to get him out of here would be while all you vampires are asleep. Can he move at all during the daytime?"

"If he knows he is in great danger, he may be able to stagger," I say, slowly and

thoughtfully. As it turns out, she does indeed need my blood if she has any hope of surviving and I tell her as much.

"Now I am even more sure you will need my blood, because you need strength. He will need to be covered thoroughly. You can take the blanket off this bed; it's thick. How will you get him out of here?"

We come up with a plan and I move against the headboard of the bed, open my legs and tell her to sit against them for comfort. She catches a glimpse of my junk, as it's called nowadays, and quickly closes her eyes. I laugh. Especially considering what we were doing mere moments ago. Up she came.

I brace her with one arm and bite into the wrist of the other.

"This will cure you of everything," I sooth and wonder if it will cure her of Bill as well.

She hesitates. I am giving her a great gift; surely she must know that on some level?

Then she starts sucking. Ah. Oh. _FuckIlikethis_.

My cock grows rock hard against her spine and I am immediately back to where we started about fifteen minutes ago and then some. Sookie taking my blood in quantity after our intimacy has me wanting this to happen every time we make love, which at this point, isn't really a surprise. It is beyond erotic and it feels…_right_. More than that, I find I enjoy this human taking from me as I plan to take from her. In fact, I really, _really_ enjoy it and I make a snap decision to definitively share myself with her in this way whenever we're together in the future.

I push against her needing release, I groan and come all over her back. Then she takes one last deep draw, the fucking cock tease that she is, and I fucking growl like some sort of beast and prepare to bite as I trail my mouth, tongue and fangs down the side of her neck.

"Don't bite me," she manages to eek out.

Fuck that. I let my fangs scrape her shoulder. I just gave her me and now she is officially mine. What is she thinking?

Before I know it, she is across the room like a rocket thanks to that Northman juice she just benefited from.

Lucky for her, we are interrupted by a vamp coming in with clothes for her. Sookie plays frail, but I can feel her and she is abashed. The party is over for us, _this_ _night_, but not for the long run.

Sookie showers, I get dressed and make no mention of what happened. Bubba comes back to say Bill is on the premises and alive.

I feel pleasure because we've succeeded in finding Compton and Sookie's efforts were not made in vain.

Then regret about the fact that he is alive.

Anger over his extreme idiocy because he knows better and decided to risk everything anyway, but mainly…

Mainly, I feel smug satisfaction over the fact that the woman who will be his savior, because of _me_, is also lost to him for the same reason. He will rue his choices for the rest of his long life and it is nothing less than he deserves as far as I'm concerned.

Following this news, we work through the details and come up with a plan for after the rescue and I am off to whore myself for a car for Sookie.

When I come back to give her the keys, she is asleep and during the time away I became increasingly more unhappy about this half-cocked plan, especially as I had a hickey to prove it. I will not be able to help her for the important part and there is little comfort anymore in knowing my blood is running through her veins. It is the best I could do and I know this, but the thought of Sookie going in there alone…I stand over her on the bed, she feels my presence.

"We'll talk later," I tell her, hoping there will be a later.

"Thank you for the car," she says.

"I don't like having feelings" I tell her sternly and leave promptly.

My dear Sookie is a magnet for trouble and the future is infuriatingly out of my control, but she would do this. Yes, she will survive now.

**Scar Tissue by The Red Hot Chili Peppers**

Scar tissue that I wish you saw  
Sarcastic mister know it all  
Close your eyes and I'll kiss you 'cause  
With the birds I'll share

With the birds I'll share  
This lonely view  
With the birds I'll share  
This lonely view

Push me up against the wall  
Young Kentucky girl in a push-up bra  
Fallin' all over myself  
To lick your heart and taste your health 'cause  
With the birds I'll share

With the birds (share) I'll share  
This lonely view  
With the birds (share) I'll share  
This lonely view  
With the birds (share) I'll share  
This lonely view

Blood loss in a bathroom stall  
Southern girl with a scarlet drawl  
Wave good-bye to ma and pa 'cause  
With the birds I'll share

With the birds (share) I'll share  
This lonely view  
With the birds (share) I'll share  
This lonely view

Soft spoken with a broken jaw  
Step outside but not to brawl  
Autumn's sweet we call it fall  
I'll make it to the moon if I have to crawl and

(I'm) With the birds(sharing) I'll share  
(this lonely) This lonely view  
(I'm) With the birds(sharing) I'll share  
(this lonely)This lonely view  
(I'm) With the birds(sharing) I'll share  
(this lonely)This lonely view

Scar tissue that I wish you saw  
Sarcastic mister know it all  
Close your eyes and I'll kiss you 'cause  
With the birds I'll share

(I'm) With the birds(sharing) I'll share  
(this lonely) This lonely view  
(I'm) With the birds(sharing) I'll share  
(this lonely)This lonely view  
(I'm) With the birds(sharing) I'll share  
(this lonely)This lonely view


	6. Chapter 6: Carrion

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK**

**CHAPTER 6: Carrion**

**BILL**

I can smell her.

I know this is some form of hallucination because I am so hungry. Sookie. My Sookie. What I wouldn't give to have her blood sustain me now. Forever. To be lying with her once again. I am a fool. I was a fool.

Her scent is so strong! It's as if she is here! It's growing closer. My fangs ache and are fully extended.

I snap my head up. She is here! No. No. That is not she. I am hallucinating in every way now. I must be seeing Lorena as my Sookie. It can't be her, but even her voice sounds like my Sookie's when she asks me for the key! Dare I hope? I point with the only unbroken fingers I have to the doorway from which she came. However, my hope is short lived and despair soaks in again as I watch Sookie take the pincers off their hook and realize she is in fact, a mirage. My maker's betrayal shouldn't shock me, but the depth of her depravity does. I thought.... I thought.... I don't know what I thought! She bewitched me! She compelled me. She wants Sookie, but I will not give her up. I can do that… at least.

* * *

~~~*~~~*

"_Hello, Bill," Lorena sounds like the cat that ate the canary. She probably is._

_"Can I help you with something, Lorena?"_

_"My, my, so matter of fact and all business I see. Can I assume that Sophie Ann's little job has you in the zone? Or else why else would you speak to your maker and ex-lover that way, especially as I was the one who put you two in touch?"_

_I close my eyes and would have sighed if it were necessary. This was no social call. Lorena wants something._

_"I apologize, Lorena. Please, forgive my manners. How can I help?"_

_"We need to talk, Bill, in person. Come see me."_

_"What is this about, Lorena? Can you not tell me over the phone? You know I am in the Queen's employ."_

_"Yes, I do know and no, I cannot tell you over the phone. Believe me, you'll want to see me. "_

_"Lorena, I don't understand why you can't just tell me now? I am working on something very important..."_

_"Bill!" She interrupts, "In honor of our arrangement, I do not wish to have to compel you, yet I will if that is how you want to go about this." _

_"Your call does not work anymore, Lorena, but you could try."_

_"Is that what you really think? Do you really want me to test us in this manner? Was it not I who put you in touch with your Queen in the first instance?" She is angry and an angry Lorena is a dangerous Lorena.  
_  
_She surprises me next. She then switches her tactic, calming down and trying to smooth over her outburst. _

_"After all," she purrs, "don't you want to see your maker? I have much to tell you, Bill. I have...I have changed. After we parted ways, it was, well, a learning experience you could say. Come and see me. We will catch up face to face."  
_  
_"I have responsibilities, Lorena, it's not that easy. You have to give me some time to make arrangements."  
_  
_"That's fine, Bill, but not too long or else I WILL call you. How much time do you need?"_

_I am silent. Lorena and I spent almost a century together and when we parted ways, I was disgusted with both of us. We couldn't stand one another and I despised her. She released me willingly. Yet, the idea of seeing Lorena again gnawed at me. Being in love with Sookie was something I never expected but that doesn't mean I feel comfortable with it. When we reconciled after Dallas, Sookie gave me a piece of my human history back__**.**__ I was grateful and touched, but more than a little disturbed. _

_Sookie does not seem to notice nor want to notice that I am a vampire and that I am far from human or my human instincts. It wars within me. This person she expects me to be. I don't like it and often feel indignant and resentful. These human emotions she seems to bring out in me contradict the very nature of who I am. I am a vampire and I like it. It took years after I was turned, but being the superior species is something I relish. I realize that I want to see Lorena. My cock is hard. Seeing my maker and ex-lover after all of this time intrigues me. I long to be with someone who knows me as I am, as I was. I had been solitary for so long and my mission for the Queen keeps Sookie by my side. An odd thought, after all these years, my nesting has not been with one of my kind, but a human no less. I would not have imagined this would have ever happened._

_"I am not sure. No longer than two months, maybe less."_

_"Just keep in touch and let me know when you can come. I could always meet you half way." This surprises me again. Meet me half way? Is what she tells me true? Has she changed?_

_"That sounds like it could work. It would certainly be easier for me." I tell her. The less time I am away, the less suspicious Sookie, or even Eric for that matter, will be. I can not take the chance of him knowing I am away from her for too long. The last time I was away, he ended accompanying her to an orgy. Sookie was the one who asked him for help because I wasn't able to be there. When I came back, I found Sookie trying to gather up the strength to refuses his advances while under him on the hood of his Corvette. She reeked of his scent until I was able to wipe the mark of him off of her. He's an opportunistic bastard and he wants her. No, I can't be away for long._

_I could hear Lorena's slow smile spread across her face. "Anything for you, Bill. I look forward to seeing you again."_

* * *

~~~*~~~*

I feel excruciating pain as the silver chains are being unwound from my body. What could Lorena possibly be planning now? I am confused because it feels as if she is trying to be careful and not cause me pain. Maybe my mind has hit its limit because it's still Sookie who is with me. Rescuing me. This vision is a better way to die. I am so tired. I can barely stay awake as the sun is out.

"You have to stand up," Sookie says in my ear. "You just have to. I know it hurts. But I can't carry you. There's a big Lincoln outside, and the trunk is open. I'm putting you in the trunk, wrapped in this blanket, and we're driving out of here. Understand, babe?" I nod and laugh ruefully to myself for imagining Sookie as this apparition. At least I am granted this small mercy from my splintered mind.

"Who the hell are you?" I hear Lorena's voice now. Lorena?

I flinch under the hands that are supporting me and feel... _Sookie _(?!) whirl to face Lorena. I don't have time to fathom what Sookie is actually doing here. She came for me. Oh god. She came for me! She must be quick! She dips and I see a stake in her hand in one second and in another, Lorena is already on her.

Sookie uses my chair as a barrier and pivots me in it while Lorena is snarling at her over my head. Everything is happening so fast and I am trying to stay alert and then I hear her, taunting Sookie.

"You must be his little human bitch whore," she says. "He was fucking me, all this time, you understand. The minute he saw me, he forgot about you, except for pity." And she is right. I _was_ pitying Sookie while I was betraying her, but not for the reasons Lorena thought.

* * *

~~~*~~~*

"_Bill?" Lorena was smiling while she was slamming herself down on my cock._

_"Umf. Wha..what is it, darling?" I could barely get the words out. Lorena could fuck and she especially knew how to fuck me. I missed this. I missed the exchange of blood, which heightened our sexual experience together. Being with someone of my own strength and who revels and supports the vampire that I am. My maker, my lover. I reach up to caress her fangs with my thumb. SLAM. I miss this. SLAM. GRUNT. Oh god, I miss this. SLAM. I want this._

_"Stay with me, Bill. Come back to me. I have missed you. I love you. No one knows you like I do. I know you have missed me, missed this. I can feel it. We can start anew and love each other like this again."_

_She stares at me as she lifts and holds herself up on her knees so the head of my cock is the only part of me left inside her. I am trapped and excited by her gaze when she reaches down and grips my shaft tightly and begins to move her hand up and down, lubricating it with her own juices. On the down stroke, she continues to slide toward my sac as she cups and massages it while grabbing the loose skin and giving it an occasional tug. She moves her thumb further and starts rubbing my perineum, applying more and more pressure. Ah, fuck! I hiss. SLAM! She repeats the move again, but this time she strikes my neck and sucks with all her might. I bellow and strike back. We're so intertwined I imagine that we look like two snakes with our own tails in our mouths, trying to swallow each other whole. We both explode._

_She lifts herself from my neck, her nose, mouth and chin are covered in my blood, her eyes are glassy and she is smirking. I am so aroused again. The sight of my blood on her face twists something primal in me. I can't. Get. Enough. I reach up and rub and smear my hand harshly over her lips, low growls are coming from the two of us and she knows I am feeling possessive and excited. I smother her mouth with the heel of my hand and push up against her top lip to expose her fangs. I feel them graze the sides of my palm as I continue moving my hand, painting her face, pushing further up her nose like I am going to break it with the heel. I want to break it. I want to shatter her fucking face and bask in the blood pouring out of her nose and I want to fuck her again and again while it rains down on me, and I know I can. I can! She is laughing and starts to rub her face against my hand, which is now cupping her cheek. She is completely covered in a mask of blood. My blood and I don't remember why I ever left this. Left her._

_"Yes, my darling, I will stay with you. We will start fresh but before we do, I have to tie up some loose ends."_

_"Does this have something to do with this stupid whore I feel your pity for each time we fuck? The one I smell on you? Jesus, Bill! You reek of her! Her scent still lingers on you and I hate it. It is like she marked you herself. Did you exchange with her? Did you give her your blood? I suppose you would have, I have taught you bad habits from the start."_

_"No, Lorena! It is not like that. It has nothing to do with the sheep I keep. I don't know why her scent lingers, she does have an usual flavor, but I don't know why you can still smell her." Lorena is growling._

_I must keep Sookie safe. I have already been disloyal in too many ways. To both my Queen and Sookie. Lorena is right; I do feel pity for her. I know I have betrayed her on many levels. Especially her faith in me as a man, but I cannot live up to those expectations! Why should I? I am vampire! Yes, I have reluctantly fallen in love with Sookie, but I belong with my maker. Yet, she does not deserve what is coming to her, I have the ability to ensure her safety and care. I do not want Sookie to be stripped of her independence. I know Eric is a bit of a rogue because I can never figure out what he will do next, but he is a good and fair Sherriff. I have already told her to go to him if anything happens to me. I will pass her to him with funds for her care ready. We already have an agreement in place and he knows that Sookie needs to feel her choices are her own. I will call him tonight._

_"My love… my maker" I whisper cajolingly while stroking her cheek, "You know I am working for the Queen. I just have to take care of some things for her. It should only take a phone call, but I may have to go back to pack up a few items." I moved my hand lower._

"_When? When will you do this?" She was moving herself on my four fingers._

"_Tonight, my darling," I was now rubbing her clit while she fucked herself on my hand, "I will proceed tonight and make my phone call before dawn."_

****Later****

"_Compton."_

"_Sheriff."_

_Eric gives a short laugh. "Sheriff, is it? What's with the formalities, Bill? I take it this is a business call then?_

_You could say that. Asshole. _

"_My situation in Bon Temps has changed. I have recently been in touch with my maker, Lorena, and we will be taking up nest again."_

_I hear Eric shift in his seat and could tell he is sitting straighter now. There is a part of me that hates giving him exactly what he wants. "Sookie…?" he asks me quietly._

"_Yes, well, of course that slightly changes our agreement in regard to her. I am leaving her, so the choice is not her own now, however, she is too involved in our world to go unprotected. She is wilful as you know, and she does not yet fully understand our ways. I have already told her to go to you should anything happen to me."_

"_Am I to understand then, that you have prepared her for your leaving?"_

"_Not exactly. She has always felt most comfortable with that shifter boss of hers and he loves her and has protected her in the past, so I had told her to go to Sam. After Dallas and the Maenad incident, I realized that there must be a part of you she trusts for her to have called you. I am sure that is a result of you getting her to ingest some of your blood, but nevertheless, she did call you specifically for help. Plus, the shifter was running around with that whore Callisto and did nothing to stop her from hurting Sookie. You have protected her when I could not and she has proven her worth to our kind. It will take more than a shifter to keep her safe."_

"_You are passing Sookie to me." It is a statement but surprisingly, there is a hint of something in Eric's voice I can't pick up on, _scepticism _and something else. _

"_I have made arrangements for her financial care and have set up a fund, which will be in place within the next day or two for you to use as you see fit. But only for her, Eric, and she is very sensitive about these things. You may not want to tell her where the money comes from if and when you need to use it." _

"_Bill.." Eric's voice is a low warning, "you are passing Sookie to me which means she is officially in my retinue and in case you didn't realize, I take care of my people. Do not insult me by offering a dowry…"_

"_I am not! This is something I owe her, Eric, whether she knows it or not. It is the least I can do."_

"_The least you could do, hmm? And when are you planning on breaking the news to her?"_

_I am silent. I hate this. Hate! This smug bastard is getting what he wants now, I have just passed Sookie to him and yet he is making me say this._

"_I am not. I was hoping that now Sookie is yours…"_

"_So, you expect us to clean up your mess, Compton? Why does this not surprise me? Don't answer that. You know, this is not going to endear me any further into Sookie's good graces, Bill. In fact, this will make protecting her far more difficult. Are you that much of a coward that you cannot tell her to her face, that you have to ask me or Pam be the ones to break the news?"_

"_Fine, Eric. I will come home to make the arrangements for her and we will tie up any loose ends between us, but you very well know that once a human is passed on, that is the end of it. She is your responsibility now. Isn't this what you've wanted?"_

"_I thought you loved her." He says condescendingly but again, I detect something else in his voice I can't place. _

"_I do," I pause to gather myself, I have to be very careful, "but I know what I am and I belong with our kind. I cannot give Sookie what she wants and it is not fair to her."_

_Eric snorts. "Fair? So this is you having mercy on her is it? And where is your maker in all of this? Do you love her as well?"_

"_I do. We have restarted our relationship." I resent answering this, but of course, there is nothing I could do._

"_You are mad," he murmurs, "I do not understand you taking up with her again."_

"_I don't expect you to. What Lorena and I share is not something I would ever expect you to understand." I hiss._

"_I see. Well, as far as I'm concerned, Compton, Sookie is still your responsibility until everything is in place for her and the news of her being under my protection comes from your own lips. Tomorrow you come to me and will work out her arrangements and then you'll go to see her. For once, I'm not willing to play the bad guy here, Bill."_

"_Eric..."_

"_That's an order as your Sheriff. Get your ass back to Shreveport tomorrow night and finish this." _

* * *

~~~*~~~*

Sookie killed Lorena. She killed my maker, my lover, my betrayer and torturer.

I felt it. The bond is no longer there. I expected to feel pain, but I think the pain I am already in is protecting me from that.

How did she have the strength to do that? To rescue me? If I wasn't so tired, I think I would cry of relief. The witch is dead.

I am under a blanket and Sookie manages to get me to a light-proof shelter. She sits me on the lip of the trunk and that's when I die.

* * *

~~~*~~~*

I groan. I am alive and I can smell prey all around me. It smells familiar. It smells _divine_. I know this smell. I own it. It's mine. I strike. This blood! This blood is habitual and unparalleled. Oh god. I suck and suck and I can't stop. In the back of my head, I hear someone but I can't think of anything else but the thudding pulse and blood rushing down my throat as I feel my other senses waking as well. My cock is so hard, my instincts are urging me to feed and fuck the owner of this scent.

I am getting stronger, more coherent, I feel my prey pinch my ear and hard, considering they are dying.

"Ow." That hurt. Never mind, I need to fuck and I pull the barrier down and enter my prey before they are dead. I clamp my hand over their mouth while they scream and cry and begin fighting like some sort of wildcat and I continue to fuck until I come.

Then I hear a huge intake of breath.

I smell Sookie.

"Sookie?"

"Sookie?"

No answer.

"It's you," I am in awe. "It's you. You were really there in that room?"

"Bill," I hear her say in a whisper.

"It is you. Are you all right?"

"No."

"Did I ..." I am not sure what is happening, "have I taken more blood than I should?"

No answer.

"I seem to be having sex with you in a closet," I say in a subdued voice, oh my god, no, don't tell me, "Did you, ah, volunteer?"

She turns her head from side to side, than lets it loll on my arm again.

"Oh, no," I whisper. "Oh, no." I pull out of her quickly and fumble around while putting her back to rights.

My hands pat our surroundings. "Car trunk," I mutter.

"I need air," she says, in a voice almost too soft to hear.

"Why didn't you say so?" I punch a hole in the trunk. She sucks for air like it was her last breath.

"Where are we?" I ask after a moment.

"Parking garage," she gasps. "Apartment building. Jackson." She is weak, but I have to try and figure out what is going on.

"Why?"

"Alcide lives here," she manages to mutter, eventually.

"Alcide who? What are we supposed to do now?"

"Eric's ... coming. Drink the bottled blood."

"Sookie? Are you all right?" She doesn't sound well, I am afraid to admit what has happened here.

I feel around and open a bottle, Sookie is quiet and her heartbeat is slowing. Before I know it the trunk is being torn open. I down the blood.

Eric.

"What are you two doing in here?" He looks from me to Sookie whose heartbeat is progressively drifting.

I jump out of the car and turn back to the trunk, my eyes wide in horror, "Sookie!"

Eric growls at me viciously and flings me backwards, "Compton! What did you do? How did Sookie end up in the fucking trunk with you?"

He bends quickly and delicately scoops her up in his arms and then he is off, moving at vampire speed. I have to exert myself in order to keep by his side.

"Eric, I had been tortured for days on end and not allowed to feed or sleep. I woke in a fit of bloodlust. Her _scent_! Could you refuse it if you were me? I didn't know it was Sookie! I would never purposely harm a hair on her head!"

"Give her to me." I open my arms to take her, "I will take care of her." We are standing in front of a door at this point and Eric is banging on it and calling this Alcide person.

He slowly turns his head toward me and his growl is getting progressively louder before he barks, "I think you have done quite enough, Bill. Sookie is my responsibility now and I will be the one taking care of her."

I stand there trying to take it all in and before I know it, a very large Were was standing there holding the door open looking at the three of us with a shocked expression on his face.

"What happened? I thought you told me she had been healed!"

This Alcide seems to like my Sookie.

* * *

~~~*~~~*

**Carrion by Fiona Apple**

Translation in progress. Please wait...

Won't do no good to hold no seance  
What's gone is gone, and you can't bring it back around  
Won't do no good to hold no searchlight  
You can't illuminate what time has anchored down

Oh, honey I've gone away  
Honey I've gone away  
I've gone away

Won't do no good to sing no love song  
No sound could simulate the presence of a man  
Won't do no good asking no questions  
Your divination should acquaint you with the plan

Oh Honey I've gone away  
Honey I've gone away  
Honey, I've gone away

My feel for you, boy, is decaying in front of me  
Like the carrion of a murdered prey  
And all I want is to save you, honey  
Or the strength to walk away

Won't do no good to go no distance  
The space between us is as boundless as the dark  
Won't do no good to throw no fist, babe  
You can't intimidate me back into your arms

Because honey, I've gone away  
I've gone away  
I've gone away

I've gone away  
I've gone away  
I've gone away

My feel for you, boy, is decaying in front of me  
Like the carrion of a murdered prey  
And all I want is to save you, honey  
Or the strength to walk away

My feel for you boy, is decaying in front of me  
Like the carrion of a murdered prey  
And all I want is to save you, honey  
Or the strength to walk away

Oh my feel for you boy, is decaying right in front of me  
Like the carrion of a, a murdered prey  
And all I want is to save you, honey  
Or the strength to walk away


	7. Chapter 7: Bizarre Love Triangle

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK**

**CHAPTER 7: Bizarre Love Triangle**

**ALCIDE****  
**

_  
_I opened my door and was shocked to see Sookie, lifeless, pale and reeking of vampire sex in Eric's arms. He flies past me before I can get any words out and slowly deposits Sookie on the bed. There is another vampire behind them, who I assume is Bill, so I let him in.

"What the hell happened to her?" I growl. Fucking vampires! I hate these motherfuckers. Jesus H. Christ, I thought Eric told me she was healed!

"Bill!" I hear Eric command. Boy, he seems pissed as hell. His fangs are down in full and the tension roiling off him is palpable. "We're going to have to feed her if she stands a chance..."

"I will give her my blood," Bill interrupts him.

"No, you will not! You will ask the shifter if he has any TrueBlood and if he does not, you will go and get some at the speed of fucking light."

"I have some," I offere still watching tentatively.

"You cannot give her your blood, Eric. You will turn her! She needs too much!"

I have to admit, Bill was in a near panic, which is unusual for a vampire.

"_Move_. _The _fuck. Away. Bill. _NOW_! She has already had my blood in quantity in order to perform her little rescue mission in the first place and it calls to her. It is the only way we will be able to get her to start drinking, as we cannot give her blood intravenously. I am not planning to give her much. Just enough to get her started and then I will switch to TrueBlood. This is the _last _time you will question me tonight. We do not have time for your bullshit."

Eric snarls this last bit at Bill. Oh yeah, he is heated.

Bill is paralyzed. I could see he half wants to argue and half wants to do what he is told. Obviously, so could Eric.

"As your sheriff, I am ordering you to do as I have bid you." He grits out. I don't think I have ever seen a vampire grit their fangs before and then he turns to me.

"Alcide, we have to heal Sookie here and she will not be able to be moved, at least until she comes to."

Shit, shit, shit! Debbie's gonna be here soon!

"When do you think that will happen?" I ask, hopefully unsuspectingly.

"What happened, Eric? When you called, you told me she had been healed." Jesus, how many times do I have to ask this already? I feel like a broken fucking record.

"She was. I found Sookie in the trunk of the car with Bill. How they both got there, still remains to be seen. Bill had been tortured and obviously, when he came to with Sookie alongside him in the trunk, he could not fight his instincts."

I felt like I was realizing and doing things in slow motion in a sense because it took a few moments for Eric's word's to fully register and when they do, I gasp softly while turning slowly towards Bill, who had his head bowed. The words came out of my mouth almost on impulse when the whole scenario dawned on me.

"You raped her." I say it low, but it is a statement with astonished anger behind it.

He exhales slowly and shakes his head back and forth while keeping his eyes on Sookie, "I could not help myself. I would have rather died than to do something like this." He sounds pained.

"I just, I was just so deprived and hungry and her _scent_. Oh god, that scent of hers was so overwhelming and was surrounding me in a confined space! The smell of her blood and sex…it was so familiar and tantalizing… it overpowered any rational thought or control. As soon as I started to become sated I stopped!" He cries defensively.

He is looking at me with pleading wide eyes at this point. I suppose for some sort of absolution or understanding, but I am still horrified for Sookie, so he isn't getting it and he knows it. As a last ditch effort, he narrows his eyes and hisses, "You know as well as I do what happens when instinct takes over, Were."

Oh, do I and now I am feeling even guiltier then I already was for abandoning her at Club Dead. The rush of shame I feel in this moment literally almost knocks me off my feet. I just left her there. Sookie was fatally injured and there I was, hopped up on adrenaline, fucking my ex who is engaged to the man she dumped me for, who I also know, incidentally, is a horrible woman and loves nothing better than to torture me both physically and mentally.

Debbie is psychotically jealous. Especially of Sookie, after she did such a brilliant job making Debbie believe we were a real couple? How could I have just left her there to die?

Thank God Northman was there and gave enough of a shit to actually help her. If she died, Eric would've surely laid the blame at my feet for deserting my duty, my father's debt wouldn't be erased and I would've been lucky to survive without some mortal injury. All because the lure of the moon and Debbie were both things, I couldn't refuse and if I was truly being honest with myself, I didn't want to. They're both just too good and call directly to my baser instincts.

So, yes, I knew what Sookie's ex was talking about, but what he did does not compare. It was so twisted in so many ways, I can't even begin to comprehend, but the reality is that he actually violated everything she willingly gave to him whether he meant to or not.

In the meantime, while I had been quickly processing and listening to Bill whine, Eric had been tending to Sookie.

I look over to realize he must have already given her his blood because he was now putting the bottle of TrueBlood up to her lips through a straw. He was lying next to her on the bed straight up against the headboard while her back was against his chest. This allowed one hand to hold the bottle while the other massaged her throat, helping her to swallow. He was whispering too low for me to hear, but I imagine he was urging her to drink_. Does Eric care for Sookie?_ Came a fleeting thought. Nah. I turn my attention back to Bill.

"It doesn't matter, Bill. The circumstances might have been beyond you, but the reality is you almost killed her. Sookie. Your _ex_ who came for you even after you betrayed her. She rescued you on her own and had to have Eric's blood in order have any chance at accomplishing it. Then you go and drain her and rape her. You violated her trust and her body..." I was getting angrier by the second when Bill interrupted and swirled his body towards me like he was going to attack.

"Who are you to tell me? I love her!" he hisses. "I _know_! I know what I did and I will rectify it. I will make it up to her. I will cherish her and stay..."

I just had to stop his oncoming rant. I can't listen to him anymore.

"Stay away? Because that's what you should do, Bill. You should stay away from her. What she has been through because of what you did should be unforgivable in her eyes and if it's not, then you should stay the fuck away even more so because that means you are toxic for her. That she can't see straight when it comes to you."

_  
_Shit. I should talk. I have a problem, actually numerous ones.

* * *

**Eric****  
**

We hover over her as I feel her coming back to life. "She's coming around. Maybe that was enough blood." We all wait anxiously to be sure. "She really is." I pronounce.

She giggles. She fucking giggles and then...makes a _joke_. "The Three Musketeers." She laughs.

Ahhh, there she is. That's my girl. Mine. That's right, _mine_. I would have fully claimed her already if that fucking cretin Bubba didn't interrupt us last night. I am so proud of her. Not to mention myself for the choices I've made. I _do_ know how to pick them. She is extraordinary and my blood running through her, giving her the strength to return, makes my decision to share that honor with her a triumph.

"Is she hallucinating?" I ask dryly.

"I think she's laughing at us," Alcide says. He didn't get my joke.

Bill laces his fingers with hers and says her name with reverence. I feel like snorting. Yes, that's right, Bill, you can touch her for the moment, but we'll see how long Sookie keeps you around.

"They said was I coming back for the crucifixion?" Sookie says weakly.

Another surprise! This is absolutely the last fucking thing I expected to hear her say. Once again, she's floored me by always putting others ahead of herself. If she expects to live much longer, she's going to have to start putting herself first.

Then Bill asks her before I can, "Who said that to you?"

"Guards at the gate."

Then Bill states it all again, the dumb ass, "The guards at the gate of the mansion asked you if you were coming back for a crucifixion tonight? This night?"

"Yes." Sookie stated slightly exasperated.

Then Bill asked the million-dollar question. "Whose?"

"Don't know" Sookie stated as she tried to reposition herself on the bed and let go of Bill's hand. Good.

I couldn't help but point out to her the obvious.

"I would have expected you to say, 'Where am I? What happened to me?' Not ask whose crucifixion would be taking place-perhaps is taking place." I corrected myself when I glanced at the clock.

"Maybe they meant mine?" Bill said as a stunned look replaced the usual blank one he wore. "Maybe they decided to kill me tonight?"

Then a thought comes to me, "Or perhaps they caught the fanatic who tried to stake Betty Joe? He would be a prime candidate for crucifixion."

"Not the picture I got." She says.

I asked her, quite impressed I might add, "You were able to read something from the Weres?"

She nods and says the last thing I want to hear, "I think they meant Bubba."

Mother. Fuck. Bubba is under my care and wouldn't be here in the first place if I hadn't put him on soldier duty. If he can be saved, I must try to do what I can. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. I had to figure out a way to get back inside Russell's compound, which will mean that I will have to reveal my true identity and further use Sookie as a go between to gain access back into the compound. Damn it all to hell. Could this be a bigger clusterfuck? After Sookie miraculously manages to have accomplished what she has and survived, I am going to have to ask her for more? If she were smart she would tell us all to fuck off and leave the country. Strike that, she's already done the first half of that equation. Well then, lucky for me she isn't a coward because I know with everything in me that if I ask her to _help _someone, she'll do it. This is her biggest flaw. She seems to be some sort of martyr, in every sense of the word. Must be this Southern hospitality ingrained in her.

"We'll have to retrieve him," Bill says. "If he's still alive."

Of course I know this already, but I am trying to quickly come up with another way.

"I guess you are right. We have the responsibility of him. I can't believe his home state is willing to execute him! Where is their loyalty?"

"And you?" Bill asks Alcide. I almost laugh. There's not a snowball's chance in hell that Alcide would intervene on behalf a vampire, especially one he doesn't know or owe anything too, even if it is the former American icon. If Bubba was a Were, I surely wouldn't be bothered.

"I don't see how I can, " Alcide says defensively. "My business, my father's, depends on my being able to come here often. And if I'm on the outs with Russell and his crew, that would be almost impossible. It's going to be difficult enough when they realize Sookie must be the one who stole their prisoner."

He was desperately trying to match Bill and myself by playing the loyalty card in front of Sookie while at the same time trying to save his own ass. Well played, Alcide. I saw his logic as he stated his case and as far as I'm concerned his father's debt is paid. I didn't much care for the lust I felt coming off Sookie when I saw them together last night, so Alcide being out to the picture was one I liked.

Then Sookie drops another stupefying tidbit.

"And killed Lorena," she states with her head hung down.

Silence filled the room as Alcide and I stare at her as if she's just grown a second head. Bill merely looked wary and ashamed. I couldn't hide the smile threatening to go full force on my face when the idea of Sookie killing Lorena truly sank in. I was so satisfied and amazed I almost levitated. I had to be sure because this seemed almost impossible had I not known the potency of my own blood.

"You offed Lorena?" I ask for further clarification.

Bill spoke up, "Sookie staked her. It was a fair kill."

Yes. I need to be one hundred percent clear here because right about now, I am feeling as proud as if she were my own child. I ask again because, apparently, my blood was better than I even gave it credit for and that is saying a lot.

"She killed Lorena in a fight?" I just can't keep the admiration I feel from surfacing.

I beam at her with pride. I will certainly have her now. At every turn, just when I think I have her pegged, she ups the ante. She is more than worthy of my protection and care. It's past being decided. This just cements that she will be my lover, no doubt about it.

Trying to downplay the greatness that she managed to accomplish, Sookie says, "A very short fight."

I almost chuckle at her humility. Look at that… so very modest. She has no idea what a feat she endeavored.

Then Alcide piped in a little too enthusiastically, "Sookie killed a vampire." This definitely raised his evaluation of her. Bill and I both scowl at him. Whatever. She's fucking all mine and the poor sod doesn't stand a chance. Neither of them do.

"Back to the original subject," I steal a glance at Sookie and give a look to say that we would talk about Lorena later. Preferably in my bed, after some amazing sex and I've finally had her blood the way I have always wanted to.

"If Sookie has not been pegged as having helped Bill escape, she is the best choice to get us back on the grounds without setting off alarms. They might not be expecting her, but they won't turn her away either, I'm sure. Especially if she says she has a message for Russell from the queen of Louisiana, or if she says she has something she wants to return to Russell…." I shrug and let my mind wander to better options when Sookie suddenly sits up and glares at us all. She seems to be exhausted with us. I can hardly blame her.

"Flag of truce? Do the vampires have such a thing?"

"Of course, then I would have to explain who I am," I say, not something I particularly want to do. It would have major consequences and I'm not sure my queen would intervene on my behalf. Sookie pulls me from my thoughts by pointedly asking Alcide a question.

"Know who pushed me in the trunk and slammed it shut?"

His face blanches and his pulse quickens audibly. Whoever it was, Alcide knows them well and does not want to answer. Well that's not happening so I take the bait.

"So, who did the deed, Sookie?"

"His ex-girlfriend. Not so ex, after last night."

That stupid fucking Were. He's just as bad as Bill if that's possible. No wonder he panicked when I told him Sookie would have to heal here. He tried to hide it, but I noticed.

"Why would she do that?" Bill asks perplexed.

After a moment of silence, I decide to fill Bill in on how far Sookie has gone for him and how undeserving he is of that loyalty. Stupid bastard, I hope he realizes just what he has lost.

"Sookie was represented as Alcide's new girlfriend to gain _entrée _to the club." I say all of this delicately as if I give a fuck about Bill's feelings, but a little pretense would soften me in Sookie's eyes, and it's really her I am being mindful of.

"Oh," Bill says then he wonders aloud, "Why would you need to go to the club?" Is he a total fucking idiot or what? It wasn't difficult this time to point out his amazing density. Is he really this thick?

"You must have gotten hit on the head a few times, Bill. She was trying to 'hear' where they had taken you." Moron, it is getting harder for me to control my anger. Does he really underestimate Sookie that much even after she killed his maker? It seems he does and that's a real pity for Bill, but lucky for me. I may not have thought her capable of killing a vampire, but I certainly knew there was more to Sookie than meets the eye.

"It's dumb to go back in there," Sookie states obviously. "What about a phone call?"

Damn! I always forget about modern inventions and the uses they provide. She has one upped me again, the little minx.

"Well, what a good idea," I say.

We find the number and decide that Sookie would be the best choice to place the call.

Sookie got through to the mansion and convinced Betty Joe to release Bubba, just in time it seems. Thank the Gods. I don't take lightly to casualties on my watch. Plus, Bubba was a good soldier and Sookie trusts him, I want him for our future. I'm also sure if Bubba died, the whole situation would be worse for Sookie and she'd probably blame herself in some way.

I could hear Betty Jo through the phone asking if Bubba could stay in order to sing for them. After a few more messages relayed back and forth via Sookie, I could see she was growing frustrated, so I grabbed the phone from her and put on my best English accent in order to disguise my voice.

Sookie looks bewildered so I start to a have a little fun with it to see if I could improve her mood, saying things like, "He's a sacred trust," and, "You don't know what you're biting off." I hang up pleased with myself knowing that even though she didn't appear affected, my little show made a charming impression.

Then Alcide appears in the doorway. Here it comes…

"Move! You all have to move next door into the empty apartment. Quick! Quick!"

Bill scoops up Sookie and we go next door. I jimmy the lock quickly and shut the door while Bill lays Sookie on the floor and coveres her with a blanket.

Bill and I listen at the wall to the war waging next door. Damn. That Debbie was something else. I can't help but exclaim, "What a bitch." I am laughing internally though, another fucking pussy in our midst.

This is getting good and the fight is definitely revving up soap opera style. Excited, I turn to Sookie and fill her in, deciding to rub our budding '_friendship'_ in Bill's face. I whisper conspiratorially to her, "Debbie stopped by his sister's house last night to grill her about you. Alcide's sister likes you very much. This angers the shape-shifter Debbie. She is insulting his sister in front of him."

I could tell that this information was not thrilling Bill in the least. If anything, it is making him see how much other people already value Sookie.

When Alcide goaded Debbie with the fact that Sookie was fantastic in bed, he was rewarded with a slap that even Sookie heard. This just keeps getting better and I saw my opportunity to play this up in front of Bill. I gape with my jaw dropped, which helps keep Bill rigid in his anger and though I know there was some flirtation and light petting between them, I also know that Sookie has not slept with Alcide. Of course I don't plan on telling Bill this. Honestly, I am practically heaving with laughter…on the inside of course. Could this go any more in my favor?

"Leave us for a moment," Bill says to me. Oooh he is pissed. I don't blame him. He hasn't a clue.

I decide to make a wager with myself as to how long it would take Sookie to walk out of that room and ask me to take her home and she _better_. Bill's nights with her are done. When I know the odds, I'm a betting man and I bet that after all of this, she'll have the strength to walk away for good. After all, she does have a good dose of my blood running through her veins now. I expect nothing less.

* * *

**BILL**

Now comes the hard part. Explaining this to Sookie so that she will understand and forgive me as I know she should and she _will_ forgive me. I know this in my undead heart because I am a casualty here too. I didn't ask for this life of a vampire. I didn't ask to be trained by a murderous maker. It is my lot in life and one I intend to make the best of. Surely, Sookie will see that I could not control myself and forgive me and understand that I am the true victim here to begin with. I was the one who was betrayed. I have suffered for a week because I did not give up her name in order to protect her. That should count for something, right? Sookie loves me and I know now without a doubt that I love her. She will forgive me, it may take a while, but eventually she will get over it and we can resume our relationship as it was before.

_  
__I know the truth of the matter. I am a vampire and our world is dangerous. What happened to Sookie at my hands, well I don't blame her if she can no longer stand the sight of me, but_I will stay focused and take whatever punishment she feels necessary to help redeem myself. She is deserving of me and the fact that she is a telepath will be greatly honored in our world and will benefit us immensely. She is an asset and I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

My big problem now is Eric. He has given her his blood now, three times that I know of and his blood trump's mine. I can tell that he is falling prey to her charms as well. I must find a way to keep them apart. That was one of the main points the queen demanded upon, and it is clear now that she did know best in regards to this. In no way must I allow anyone to find out about Sookie, especially Eric.

When the Queen finds out about the level of my disobedience, she is going to have my head. Maybe I can keep it from her? She doesn't have to know Sookie and I are having troubles and when I get back into Sookie's good graces, the Queen will be none the wiser… hopefully. Eric will be relegated to the background once more and Sookie will be safely under my tutelage again. What happened will be nothing more than a minor bump in the road as long as the mission remains intact.

I also have this matter of my passing her along to Eric. It was fine when I wasn't returning, but I _did_ officially give her to him, despite Sookie's ignorance. Too many things have transpired between Eric and Sookie at this point. I don't know what this means, but I am willing to assume.

Yet, if Sookie does not go to him willingly, I would place a stake on the matter that he will take a backseat, which will give me time to maneuver back into Sookie's life. He is a proud vampire and can have any human he wants so would not stand for having to force someone to be his. That is why Eric and I had our little arrangement to begin with; I know this about him, his pride would always outweigh his desire. He couldn't bare it. If Sookie chose him of her own free will, then I would concede her willingly but I had cleverly planted enough seeds of doubt and fear into the back of her mind, so that that would never happen. I may have underestimated Eric however, as he appears to genuinely care for Sookie now and sees her as more than an asset. To think he gave her that much blood in quantity! Fuck! Eric isn't one of those vampires who creates Renfield's. In fact, he has a huge disdain for those who do. The last time he offered his blood up was when he made his child Pam. Shit. I could be so screwed here. I must figure this out.

I need to find out exactly what those two have been up to since I've been away. But, first things first, I have to ask Sookie about the database because not only is that my cover but also, her answer will help me decipher the depth of Sookie's loyalty. If she hasn't given the database to Eric, which I am certain she hasn't or he would not be here to rescue me, then surely she loves me still and that I can work with. I should be fine… but now for the reckoning.

I ask Eric to leave us alone and he complies, though no doubt he is listening to everything we say. I would. So I stretch out beside her and lay my arm across midriff. I tell her what the Were Alcide has just said to his woman.

_  
_"He just told this woman how good you are in bed." I state calmly, but the thought of Sookie fucking this Were has me wanting to mark her six ways 'til Sunday.

Sookie sits up like a rocket and nearly tears open the wound on her neck. It looks awful and not for the first time since I've been with her, I feel ashamed of my vampire nature. She vehemently denies the claim just as I had expected. This is good. My Sookie has stayed true to me.

She continues and it cuts me to the core. "But even if I had, you know what? It would serve you right, you betraying son of a bitch."

This (surprisingly) hurt me on a level I didn't know still existed. This may be harder than I thought. I urge her to lie back and rest since I can see that she is in pain. She whispers harshly.

"Of course I'm hurting." She's crying now.

"And to have the others tell me, to hear that you were just going to pension me off and go live with her without even having the courage to talk to me about it yourself! Bill, how could you be able to do such a thing? I was idiot enough to think you really loved me!"

I 'm not surprised by her anger or what comes next. She flings off the blanket and straddles me in order to choke me. She can't hurt me so I simply lay there and allow her to get it out of her system. There is a part of me that's relieved because I deserve no less and feel it's a piece of penance due. I am going to take this because hopefully, she'll find some relief in her outburst and then we can move forward to start repairing the damage I have caused in our relationship.

She spat her next words at me. "I hope that hurt like hell."

"Yes, that hurt like hell," I tell her honestly. It wasn't so much the physical pain, although Eric's blood has certainly helped her regain her strength, but emotional pain. For the first time, I start to doubt my ability to win her back. Surely I haven't over-estimated my position in this woman's life? She will get over this, won't she? I chide myself. Of course she will, what am I thinking? Sookie is forgiving and gracious and as long as I am on my best behavior, I know I can regain her trust.

I pull her down to nestle her head in its familiar place under my arm and begin to soothe her. When we get home I must do something for her. Maybe buy her a new dress or a bracelet. I get a whiff of a strange vampire scent and look down to notice she is wearing men's clothing.

"You're wearing someone else's clothes?"

"Yes, a vampire named Bernard. He gave me clothes to wear after my dress got ruined at Josephine's."

She is calm now.

"How did your dress get ruined?"

"I got staked."

What the fuck? All of a sudden I have a deep sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn't see this coming. Not. At. All. The chances of my being forgiven might be rapidly dwindling.

"Where? Did it hurt?" I fold down the blanket and tell her, "Show me."

She complies and what I see shocks me. There's a shiny red scar that had no doubt been healed by Eric's blood. She must have taken more than just a sip for it to be healed this well and I can only imagine what he asked for in return, the gloating bastard. Would Sookie betray me with Eric? Would he take advantage of her in this way? Why do I bother asking myself? Of course he would, especially with me out of the way and presumed dead, _finally __dead_.

"Who did this to you?" I ask. I have to get back to the issue quickly because I am clearly out of my depth here and have to figure out _what_ exactly happened while I was being held. I begin a series of questions.

"... I never got the chance to get over there after Eric and Pam and Chow came to tell me you'd been snatched."

"And they told you….?" I wasn't going to admit anything. I have to tread very, very carefully here. I will let her lead.

"That you were planning on leaving me. Yes. They told me."

"I already got paid back for the piece of madness."

When I see now, everything for what it was and what it is, I know I was mad to ever think Lorena had changed to begin with.

"You may have been paid back enough to suit you, but I don't know if you've been paid back enough to suit me."

Shit. This doesn't sound good at all. I was silent for a long time, hoping Sookie would start talking in order to give me time to compose my thoughts. She didn't, but I knew what to say.

"When the queen came to me and said she'd heard I was working on a program that had never been attempted before, I was flattered. The money she offered was very good, and she would have been within her rights not to offer any, since I am her subject."

"Who do you think told her?" She asks me. It's a smart question and thankfully one I semi-expected, just in case.

"I don't know. I don't really want to," I tell her in an offhand and gentle way, hoping the casualness would belie the truth. I'm not sure she was convinced, as I'm learning not to underestimated Sookie.

"You know I had been working on it for some time," I don't know why I added that. What the hell is wrong with me? Quick Bill, work quick.

"Why?" she asked me and I figured on that one.

"Why?" I tried to sound incredulous. "Well, because it seemed like a good idea to me. Having a list of all America's vampires, and at least some of the rest of the world's? That was a valuable project, and actually, it was kind of fun to compile. And once I started doing research, I thought of including pictures. And aliases. And histories. It just grew."

"So you've been, um, compiling a-like a directory? Of vampires?"

"Exactly." I say happily, trying to convey my passion for the project in an attempt to make her see why someone like Lorena could want this. "I just started one night, thinking how many other vampires I'd come across in my travels over the past century and I started making a list. That led to me adding drawings I'd done or a photograph I'd taken."

She continued to question me fairly hard and I _think_, I am answering her sufficiently for this to end where I need it to, it does thankfully.

"Do you want to get yourself staked?" Success! That was the response I was hoping for. That's my good girl.

"I never realized how tempting this project would be to anyone else. I never thought of how much power it would give to the one who owned it, until others began trying to steal it." I sealed that statement with a glum face.

We could hear Alcide and Debbie shouting in the next room and I could see Sookie's wheels turning. I'm sure she's comparing our relationship, but Debbie Pelt is a sadistic bitch that I realized was one of the ones who took a turn torturing me. There was no comparison to us. Not even close.

She shoves me away. No! NO. She opens the door and tells that asshole Eric, to take her home.

I want to stop her. To touch her and convince her to stay with me, but I know it's probably best to let her go at this moment. I will go to her later. She has been through a lot and I should let her process what I told her.

* * *

**A/N:** You want to know what Eric was saying to Sookie when he was tending to her at Alcide's? He was talking her mainly in Swedish to hide the intimacy of it. He continues on in English when it's less intimate. He felt knew what to say which would encourage Sookie to drink therefore, speed up her recovery.

**Part 1 (SWEDISH):**

**"Raring En , dricka upp. Du kom inte den här långt till har den slut som det väg. JAG veta den här emedan den er min blod så pass lever i du och JAG skulle aldrig ge upp. JAG skulle ihärdighet emedan den där er vad litten krigare gör. For resten , JAG har icke har chansen till fuck du ändå. Efter allting den där er skedd , du skulle inte plundra jag av min en målet i denne lång liv av min , skulle du?"**

**Part 1 (ENGLISH translation):**

"Dear One, drink up. You did not come this far to have it end like this way. I know this because it is my blood that lives in you and I would never give up. I would persevere because that's what little warriors do. Besides, I haven't had the chance to fuck you yet. After everything that's happened, you would not rob me of my one goal in this long life of mine, would you?"

**Part 2 (continuation in English):**

"You have to drink up so we can move my lover. It appears that Alcide is expecting some company and despite how he tries to hide it, it has him quite agitated. He is being gracious enough but I can tell he really doesn't want us here and maybe it's for the best. The more you drink, the quicker we can get leave. "

* * *

**"Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order**

Every time I think of you  
I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue  
It's no problem of mine  
But it's a problem I find  
Living a life that I can't leave behind  
But there's no sense in telling me  
The wisdom of the fool won't set you free  
But that's the way that it goes  
And it's what nobody knows  
well every day my confusion grows

Every time I see you falling  
I get down on my knees and pray  
I'm waiting for that final moment  
You say the words that I can't say

I feel fine and I feel good  
I'm feeling like I never should  
Whenever I get this way  
I just don't know what to say  
Why can't we be ourselves like we were yesterday  
I'm not sure what this could mean  
I don't think you're what you seem  
I do admit to myself  
That if I hurt someone else  
Then I'll never see just what we're meant to be

Every time I see you falling  
I get down on my knees and pray  
I'm waiting for that final moment  
You say the words that I can't say


	8. Chapter 8: '03 Bonnie & Clyde

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK:**

**Chapter 8: '03 Bonnie & Clyde**

**ERIC**

Of course I was listening to Bill and Sookie by the door and despite his trying to be quiet, I heard everything. A fucking vampire Database. _That's_ his big mission for the Queen? That's what this whole thing is about? These computers are dangerous things.

I could give a shit about Bill's database. Yes, I could use it. Yes, I could see how lucrative it would be, but this was more trouble than I believe it's worth. Obviously, the Queen is worried about her pet project, which is why she has been calling so often as of late. I use this as leverage against Bill.

"You are to clean up the disaster you left in your wake. I know about the database Bill and no, Sophie- Anne does not know you had been kidnapped. Nor does she know how you were willingly going back to Lorena before that. Do you have any idea what she would have done to me and my people if something had happened to this project of hers? She has been calling practically every evening!" I am snarling at him, furious.

"All of this and it has been with Sookie the whole time! She kept her promise to you in spite of what she knew and what _Pam and I_ were left to tell her. What she did for you….._stupid_ girl! "

I am in his face, fangs fully extended exerting my dominance, not that it can ever be argued, but then I pull back to look at him and I can't believe what I am seeing. Bill is still half clueless. Amazing.

"I never thought I'd see the day where I would say something like this, but you don't deserve her. You don't deserve a _human,_ Compton.

Since we retrieved you unharmed, I will keep this information from Sophie-Anne, but it does not please me to do so. You are in my debt Bill, until I say otherwise.

Go. Go deal with Russell and do whatever it takes, keep Sookie safely out of this. I don't care if you have to offer him the whole fucking directory. And don't forget to get your fucking car back. That would just be sloppy."

I stride off happy to be getting away from that unbearable fool. The depth of what happened, as a result of his poor choices are too numerous to ruminate over right now. I hope for Sookie's sake she is truly done with that fucking jerk-off. I needed to find out for certain because if she's not, I want nothing to do with her.

I don't think she would sweep something of this caliber under the rug, but if she minimizes it, than she is not the kind of person I think she is. She is nothing but a perpetual victim and a martyr and I will trouble myself about her no more. I would still fuck her, I shrug to myself… but that is all.

**SOOKIE**

Eric catches up with me as I am climbing into the car.

"I had to give Bill a few instructions about cleaning up the mess he caused," He offers. Like I care.

"Had it occurred to you," he says, after we'd roll out of the city's center, "that you tend to walk away when things between you and Bill become rocky? Not that I mind, necessarily, since I would be glad for you two to sever your association. But if this is the pattern you follow in your romantic attachments, I want to know now."

Stunned. I am stunned into awed silence as I feel an outrage welling up inside me so quickly that it's bypassing the simmer stage and going straight to boil.

My synapses are misfiring and I am seeing white while mind is sputtering things to itself like:  
_Of all the arrogant... WHAT? What did he just have the audacity to ask me?__  
__Who the hell does he fucking think he is?__  
__What I wouldn't give to have the strength to I slam his forehead into that steering wheel.__  
__What a fucking asshole. Did he not just see what happened to me?'__  
_  
And on and on they come but I decide not to verbalize the first few, which woulda' blistered my grandmother's ears. Instead, I draw a deep breath and I settle on an appropriately sarcastic rhetorical (Word of the Day) question.

As I snort derisively, I ask; "You want to know if I make it a habit to run when things get 'rocky'?"

Eric cocks his eyebrow and tilts his head over in my direction.

"Is that what you think I should consider all of this Eric? Just a simple bump in the road? No big deal? Of course... Why the hell would you even possibly consider what any of this might mean to a mere human? I grumble snidely.

"Well, let me clarify, _Sheriff_. First of all, what goes on with my personal life, especially between me and Bill is absolutely none of your damn business. However, I'll answer your selfish question by saying I have no idea if this is a pattern because Bill was the first man I was ever in a relationship with, which leaves me clueless as to if this is a policy of mine. I do apologize for not having the answers in order to help you figure out your next move. I imagine it throws a wrench in regard to your scheming."

I spit it all out with false Southern charm, but I am still raging underneath, which means I'm not done with my little rant. Oh, goody.

"But what really amazes me, Eric, is that you can't figure it out for yourself. I mean you are after all, one _thousand _years old. Haven't you studied humans enough in your long ass life to have people all sussed out within minutes? Geez! I guess I should be flattered because here I was thinkin' you probably know even more about me than I do, huh?"

Eric is growling low, but I don't give a shit, I am so done. I thought I was done before? Nuh-uh. This is the straw that broke the camel's back. I unleash some more.

"I'm just curious, but have you even given _any_ of this at least half a moments thought? You know, _just _whathappened to me in the last 36 hours? Considering you were there for most of it I would think you had a clue, but I'm guessing not so much now based on your insipid question."

Oh, boy! That last blow really pisses him off. Thank you, Word of the Day calendar! It sure is coming in handy! I actually feel a little bad, so I start to tone it down ...a _teensy _bit.

"Listen Eric, I got locked in a car trunk with my tortured, starved, fucking betraying bastard of an ex. When you do the math, I'm sure you can imagine how the irony must've felt when I realized that after everything, _this _was how I was going to die. The man I just went through extreme lengths to save was about to kill me and it's my entire fault, because why? I am a fool and the joke is on me. I am out. I am so done with all of you and I especially just want to date regular people. Or at least people who are breathing."

Apparently, I am Julia Sugarbaker, hear me roar.

Eric is silent for a moment and I glance over to have a look at him. At least he isn't laughing at me. I know I ticked him off. I was disrespectful, especially considering his help, but I don't care. What the hell kind of question was that after everything I had just been through?!

I'm so exhausted, I sigh. The baggage that I'm managing to accumulate, all due to the company I keep, is stacking up faster than I can keep track of. I feel like a luggage store.

I made a mental note earlier that my life had been in danger more times than I could count ever since Bill walked into it. I pushed it aside to reflect upon later, but the rant that came out of me spurred on by Eric's question, had me facing this little observation sooner than I would have liked. I just told Eric I was done. Out. I guess that definitely means Bill too or else what would that make me? A total hypocrite with no self-worth or sense of self-preservation? In short, yes.

He finally says something.

**ERIC**

I fucked up. Even though I did get the answer I was looking for, I clearly lacked my usual finesse. Her attitude is pissing me off, however, and she's lucky I don't drain her dry myself. It would probably save us all a lot of trouble, _me_ specifically.

However, I'll let her have this tantrum instead of snapping her neck because as she points out, she's just been through a lot. Besides, I didn't go through all of this for nothing either. I still haven't fucked her and now that I know for certain that she is absolutely finished with Bill, smart girl, she _will _yield to me.

My comment came across to her as callous and I need to show her I take her seriously. I try a different tact.

"I'm listening to what you say. I can tell you mean it. I've had your blood: I know your feelings."

She is serious, however, I don't think it will be a matter in the long run. Her value is with us, in the supe world. If they haven't by now, then the humans will never appreciate Sookie's true worth. I tell her so.

"You are spoiled for humans."

"Maybe I am. Though I don't see that as much of a loss, since I didn't have any luck with guys before. But I'd be happier with no one than I am now."

She misunderstood, but I decide to stay quiet this time because even though I know she means this at the moment, it's not true for her. She is not meant to be alone nor left alone. It's a done deal. She is in this world whether she likes it or not. Anyway, I spent way too much time coddling this woman. I need to think about other things, like what Fangtasia's take has been in my absence.

About an hour later, I notice we're low on gas and Sookie needs to relieve herself, so I pull over. She offers to pump. What the hell is that about? I was already doing it for fucks sake! She infuriates me this woman, and her grating Southern manners. I dismiss her with a "No, thank you."

I watch her as another blonde walks in at the same time. Even as spent and battered as Sookie is, this other woman looks rode hard and put away wet in comparison. She has been through quite an ordeal, the little telepath, and yet she still minds her manners. I chuff to myself in a half amused, half disconcerted way. There is something about her....

ARGGHH!! What the fuck?!?

I am in a silver net! FUCK! These fools! I am going to rip them from limb to limb and drink their blood using their arms as funnels.

THUNK…..That was the back of my head.

I am practically out cold between being hit in the head with the gun and being trapped by silver. I need to gather my strength. I am bleeding too. After getting used to the pain, I start to take it all in. These fools are just as inept at capture as they are at robbery seeing as I can so easily snag a corner of the net on the bumper of the truck and managed to roll out of it.

If they had tied the net shut with silver chains, the result might have been different but they didn't and now they're dead. I need to clean my head, I'm bleeding more then I thought I would be. I imagine there's a water spigot along the back of the store and take off. While resting against the back of the store before going to get Sookie, I hear something. It's her.

"Sookie," and in the next instant I clap a hand across her mouth just as I sense she is about to scream.

"Sorry," I whisper, "I should have thought of a better way to let you know I was here."

I keep her mouth clasped until she register's it's me, and then she says my name when she calms, so I move my hand.

"We gotta save him."

"Why?"

Is she kidding? Yet she is looking at _me_ as if I had grown a second head, so I think not.

"Because he's getting beaten for our sakes, and they're probably gonna kill him, and it'll be our fault!"

Hmm, that's taking this whole martyr business a bit too far. Has she finally lost it? I had to feel her out a bit more in order to understand why she would think such a thing. Those idiots are nothing, but a couple of failed thieves.

"They're robbing the store," I say to slowly to make sure she understands. One would think she was hit on the head.

"They had a new vampire net, and they thought they'd try it out on me. They don't know it yet, but it didn't work. But they're just opportunistic scum."

"They're looking for us," she says furiously.

She heard something. "Tell me," I whisper and she does.

I will handle this. So I tell her simply, "give me the shotgun."

She keeps a good grip on it while questioning me, "You know how to use one of these things?"

Not really due to the fact that I am a vampire, so there's actually no need for toys when you have innate ability, but I doubt Sookie would do better.

"Probably as well as you." I tell her as I continue to check out the contraption.

"That's where you're wrong," She tells me. Oh, really?

Rather than argue with me she runs in a crouch around the ice machine, the propane gas rack, and through the front door into the store. The little bell over the door rings like crazy, and through all the shouting, they don't seem to hear it. However, they certainly pay attention when my Sookie fires a blast through the ceiling over their heads. Tiles, dust, and insulation rain down.

It almost knocks her flat, but not quite, and then she levells the gun right on them. They are frozen. I could fuck her right then and there I am so impressed. Oh, yes, my future lover and I are well suited.

"Let the young man go," Despite the fury I feel coming from her, she speaks quite clearly.

"You gonna shoot us, little lady?"

"You bet your ass I am," and she is serious.

I want to laugh and fuck her, but I know I already said that to myself numerous times. It's a given. Enough distracting myself over this little minx, it's time to step up and be Clyde to her Bonnie. This is exciting! Who knew humans could be this much fun?

"And if she misses, I will get you," I say in a voice which relays that I am most definitely her backup man.

"The vampire got loose, Sonny."

"I see that," says this Sonny. What kind of name is Sonny?

The young clerk pulls himself up out of his pain and fear and comes around the counter as fast as he can move.

"I see you found my shotgun," he says as he passes Sookie carefully not getting between the bad guys and her. He pulls a cell phone out of his pocket, and I hear the tiny beeps as he presses numbers.

Oh no, I am not going to be interrupted by the police.

"Before the police get here, Sookie, we need to find out who sent these two imbeciles."

I step abreast of Sookie and then a little bit ahead, in order to move her into position of being my backup now and allow her to keep her eyes on everything that is going on, _just_ in case.

"Come down here," I day to that Sonny.

"Stay," I say and he tries to shut his eyes, but when he hears me, he can't help himself because like I said, he is an imbecile and so, predictably, he opens them a crack, which is all I need.

"Who sent you here?" I ask softly.

"One of the Hounds of Hell," Sonny tells us.

I am surprised.

"A member of the motorcycle gang," Sookie explains carefully, mindful that we have a civilian audience who is listening with great curiosity. She is good. Very aware our Ms. Stackhouse can be.

"What did they tell you to do?" I ask.

"They told us to wait along the interstate. There are more fellas waiting at other gas stations."

"What were you supposed to watch for?"

"A big dark guy and a tall blond guy. With a blond woman, real young, with nice tits."

I feel a possessive rage and instinctively crack Sonny in the face over that remark. I break his nose. Now I am pissed and decide to stop fucking around and get down to business. Sookie was right - they sent forty thugs after us and out laid a lot of cash.

"You are speaking of my future lover. Be more respectful. Why were you looking for us?"

"We were supposed to catch you. Take you back to Jackson."

"Why?"

"The gang suspected you mighta had something to do with Jerry Falcon's disappearance. They wanted to ask you some questions about it. They had someone watching some apartment building, seen you two coming out in a Lincoln, had you followed part of the way. The dark guy wasn't with you, but the woman was the right one, so we started tracking you."

"Do the vampires of Jackson know anything about this plan?"

"No, the gang figured it was their problem. But they also got a lot of other problems, a prisoner escape and so on, and lots of people out sick. So what with one thing and another, they recruited a bunch of us to help."

"What are these men?" I ask Sookie.

She closes her eyes and thinks carefully. "Nothing," she says. "They're nothing."

Fine. Done. We need to go, now. "We need to get out of here," I tell her.

I glamoured Sonny into forgetting us and again, the other robber tries to keep his eyes shut, but I blow in his face, and just as a dog would, he opens his eyes and tries to wiggle back. I have him in a second, and repeat his procedure.

I give the clerk back his shotgun and he aims at the robbers.

"I know you weren't here," he growls, keeping his gaze ahead of him. "And I ain't saying nothing to the police."

I put forty dollars on the counter. "For the gas," I explain. "Sookie, let's make tracks."

"A Lincoln with a big hole in the trunk does stand out," the boy calls after us.

He is pretty sharp as too and did well tonight. I think he would make a decent vampire. I haven't seen this much talent in a while. I smirk thinking maybe Sookie brings out the best in people, I chuckle, amused at my own joke.

"He's right." Sookie says as I am accelerating due to the nearing sirens.

"I should have taken the truck," I admit. Overall, this has been an exciting little interlude. We did well together and I am pleased with our teamwork. This bodes well. She may be infuriating and a lot of trouble, but it's been years since I have been kept on my toes as much. I truly never know what's going to happen.

"How's your face?" She asks.

"It's getting better."

"What happened?" She asks tentatively.

I cast her a sideways glance, slow down to the speed limit, so it doesn't seem to any of the many police cars converging on the convenience store that we are fleeing and explain.

"While you were tending to your human needs in the bathroom," I say, "I finished putting gas in the tank. I had hung up the pump and was almost at the door when those two got out of the truck and just tossed a net over me. It is very humiliating, that they were able to do that, two fools with a silver net."

I cannot believe I allowed that to happen to me, and all because I felt so antagonized by Sookie.

"Your mind must have been somewhere else," she says.

"Yes, it was." I am short and I hope she gets the message in there because it was her fault in the first place. I am back to being aggravated.

"So then what happened?" she asks, sensing I am going to stop there.

I explain further, after all, I rationalize to myself, she was a good wingman, she earned it. After a long moment's silence, I ask her what had happened in the store.

"They got me confused with the other woman who went in the store at the same time I went to the ladies' room," she explains. "They didn't seem to be sure I was in the store, and the clerk was telling them that there had been only one woman, and she'd gone. I could tell he had a shotgun in his truck-you know, I heard it in his head-and I went and got it, and I disabled their truck, and I was looking for you because I figured something had happened to you."

"So you planned to save me and the clerk, together?" I am stunned but didn't let on while going over in my mind how she could possibly think she could pull that off alone and without getting hurt, kidnapped or killed! Plus, the fact that Sookie is mine to care for and to have now, even if she doesn't know it. It seems that she is bound to court trouble in every way. I need to keep some sort of fucking low jack on her if I have any chance of keeping her in one piece.

"Well ... yeah. I didn't feel like I had a whole lot of choices there."

I am getting angrier by the second and can't relax. As if it wasn't humiliating enough, getting caught to begin with, Sookie rescuing me is not a position she should be in! She is one of mine, but more than that, she has had the privilege of my blood. If I did not manage to free myself and this frail human was the one to rescue me after everything her body has been through? I have one word shouting at me in my head like a neon fucking sign.

Pam.

I would never hear the end of it from Pam. My child would revel in the knowledge with glee. My life would be hell and she would use Sookie against me to tease mercilessly. I would be lucky if no one else found out due to her lack of contained joy. Sookie amuses her too much already, this would only ratchet up her desire to cause mischief at my expense.

I will distract her with tales of Sookie staking Lorena and knowing how to fire a shogun like Annie Oakley. She will love that. Anything to divert her cunning mind from getting to the truth of the matter….how I was able to get caught in the first place….while pumping gas. This is insufferable! Sookie is a hazard to my health, I think dryly.

We are about forty minutes from home now, that's all and then I can be rid of her, which is what I need more than anything. She starts to let it drop. Then…she doesn't. Woman!

"You don't seem too happy about something," she says, a definite edge to her voice. My own temper is fraying around the edges as well and I know we are heading in the wrong direction conversationally. I know she should just be content with silence, however brooding and pregnant.

I take the exit for Bon Temps and turn south.

"Would there be something wrong with me rescuing the two of you?"

God fucking damn her.

I pull over and kill the engine.

"Yes, there is something wrong with that. And why the hell don't you get your driveway fixed?"

The string of tension that had stretched between us popped. She is out of the car in a New York minute, and I am too. We facd each other across the roof of the Lincoln, though not much of her shows. She charges around it until she is right in front of me.

"Because I can't afford it, that's why! I don't have any money! And you all keep asking me to take time off from my job to do stuff for you! I can't! I can't do it anymore!" she is shrieking now. "I quit!"

There is a long moment of silence while I regard her. Her chest is heaving underneath her stolen jacket. I can tell she is ignoring something, which is bothering her about the appearance of her house, but she is too heated to examine her worry. This alarms me and I need to tend to this oversight of hers. She is as flighty as a gazelle right now and only looking to escape. I need to proceed with caution.

"Bill ..." I begin cautiously, and it sets her off like a rocket. Mother. _Fuck_.

"He's spending all his money on the freaking Bellefleurs," Her tone low and venomous this time, but no less sincere. Again, with the surprising revelations. The Bellefleurs?

"He never thinks about giving me money. And how could I take it? It would make me a kept woman, and I'm not his whore, I'm his ... I used to be his girlfriend."

She takes a deep, shuddering breath, dismally aware that she is going to cry and I can tell she is trying to get mad again instead.

"Where do you get off, telling them that I'm your ... your lover? Where'd that come from?"

I ignore her pretend indignance in order to get to the root of this issue of hers.

"What happened to the money you earned in Dallas?" I ask, taking her completely by surprise obviously.

"I paid my property taxes with it."

Christ. How much did Bill take? Her property taxes can't be more than a few hundred for this hunk of shit she lives in. She received a nice sum for her work in Dallas and I can't imagine she has a mortgage, but even if she did. This must be why he planned to come back to discuss her financial arrangements. He said he had some sort of fund, but when did he set it up? _Why_ did he set it up instead of giving her the full pay- check?

Surely he could see that she was struggling? That she needs more for maintenance around here? This is something I plan to bring up, but not now. No, not now. This is between Bill and me and clearly Sookie is in the dark. It will stay this way. Instead, I bring up this database he seems to have fucked us all over with.

"Did you ever think that if you told me where Bill's hiding his computer program, I would give you anything you asked for? Did you not realize that Russell would have paid you handsomely?"

She sucks in my breath, so offended; I could see it hadn't even crossed her mind. I should be happy about her intense grasp of loyalty, but it's directed in the wrong place.

"I see you didn't think of those things."

"Oh, yeah, I'm just an angel." She is simmering with fury and feeling defensive. Again, I can tell there is something she is sensing, but her anger seems to override it.

"Someone's waiting in my house, Eric."

She swings around and stomps over to her porch, finding the key under the rocker. In the meantime, I gather myself and catch the scent of Weres. As she opens the door, I bellow while moving just fast enough in front of her to catch two rounds of shotgun blasts. The power of it blows me back so hard, I end up in the woods, but not before my body knocks Sookie flat on her porch effectively clearing the path for those fuckers anyway.

* * *

**'03 Bonnie & Clyde by Jay-Z**

Uhh uhh uhh.  
You ready B? Let's go get 'em..

_[Verse 1: Jay-Z]_  
Look for me! Young, B  
Cruisin down the westside - high, way  
Doing what we like to do - our, way  
Eyes behind shades, this necklace the reason  
all of my dates been blind dates  
But today, I got my thoroughest girl wit me  
I'm mashin the gas, she's grabbin the wheel, it's trippy how hard  
She rides with me - the new Bobby and Whitney  
Only time we don't speak is during "Sex and the City"  
She gets Carrie fever, but soon as the show is over  
She's right back to being my soldier  
Cuz mami's a rider, and I'm a roller  
Put us together, how they gon' stop both us?  
What ever she lacks, I'm right over her shoulder  
When I'm off track mami is keepin me focused  
So let's, lock this down like it's supposed to be  
The '03 Bonnie and Clyde, Hov' and B

_[Chorus]_  
_[Jay]_ All I need in this life of sin, is me and my girlfriend.  
_[Bey]_ Down to ride 'til the very end, it's me and my boyfriend.  
_[Jay]_ All I need in this life of sin, is me and my girlfriend.  
_[Bey]_ Down to ride 'til the very end, it's me and my boyfriend.

_[Verse 2: Jay-Z]_  
The problem is, you dudes treat the one that you lovin  
with the same respect that you treat the one that you humpin  
Now they 'bout nothin - if ever you mad about somethin  
It won't be that; oh no it won't be that  
I don't be at, places where we comfy at  
With no be-atch; oh no you won't see that  
And no, I ain't perfect - nobody walkin this earth's surface is  
But girlfriend, work with the kid  
I keep you workin' at Hermes, Birkin Bag  
Manolo Blahnik, Timbs, aviator lens  
600 drops, Mercedes Benz  
The only time you wear Burberry to swim  
And I don't have to worry, only worry is him  
She do anything necessary for him  
And I do anything necessary for her  
so don't let the necessary occur, yep!

_[Chorus]_

_[Beyonce]_  
(Talk to 'em B)  
If I was your girlfriend  
I'll be there for you, if somebody hurts you  
Even if that sombody's me  
Yeah-hee (break it down for 'em)  
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be  
And so I put this on my life  
Nobody or nothing will ever come between us  
And I promise I'll give my life  
my love and my trust if you was my boyfriend  
Put this on my life  
The air that I breathe in, all that I believe in  
I promise I'll give my life  
my love and my trust if you was my boyfriend


	9. Chapter 9: Smack My Bitch Up

**SOOKIE****AFTER DARK**

**CHAPTER 9: Smack My Bitch Up**

**BILL**

I knew the Weres were after Eric and Sookie thanks to overhearing that duplicitous bitch, Debbie Pelt. I dealt with Russell swiftly by offering him a cut in the database and flew in my car to try and catch up with them.

As I turn onto Hummingbird Road, I hear Sookie being beaten, which means Eric is not with her. I'm not sure how many Weres are there, but I would think at least ten. For that I need Eric and I have to find him. I catch his scent off to my left and in the woods.

I find him in tatters, covered in his own blood trying to get up.

"Eric, I can hear Sookie, she isn't going to be able to take much more. We need to get to her now."

"Just get me up, I am almost there."

I help pull him up and he seems to wrap his power around him with a purpose. We move with lightening speed and see two Weres in Sookie's front yard. Eric looks at me to let me know they are his. He moves with stealth I have yet to see before and obviously, neither have the Weres because they're both dead before they even know what hit them.

We rally and crash through the front door.

Sookie is being kneed in the stomach, screaming in the corner on the floor.

We lose all control.

Sookie sees firsthand what a vampire can do and closes her eyes in relief.

Eric and I move, allowing the bloodlust and battle to propel our actions, devouring and ripping the Weres limb from limb with expedience. It is a bloodbath, and for as quick as it all starts and ends, we make a glutton of it.

In two minutes, all the men in her living room are dead.

I run over to Sookie, checking for a pulse on her wrist and neck. Her pulse is amazingly strong considering.

Eric is hovering over us like a mother hen.

"Sookie? Sookie?" Eric's voice is hoarse. "Do we need to take her to the hospital?"

"Her pulse is strong," I report. "I'm going to turn her over."

"She's alive?"

"Yes."

Eric's voice, suddenly closer, says, "Is the blood hers?"

"Yes, some of it."

He draws a deep, shuddering breath. "Hers is different."

"Yes," I say coldly. "But surely you are full by now."

If he dare lick an ounce of her blood, I will kill him myself, but I have a feeling he is just commenting and even possibly fishing, concerning the quality of it. Her blood is unique, made even more obvious after drinking the Weres.

"It's been a long time since I had real blood in quantity," Eric says.

I slide my hands underneath her.

"For me, too."

Yes, gone were the days of gorging on human blood. We could no longer play with our food, bask in their blood and then drain them dry. Those fits of bloodlust we work to contain since we've come out into the open. I imagine it's been far longer for Eric then myself since he needs so little to survive on a daily basis due to his age. He is further away from having any _accidents_.

"We'll need to put them all out in the yard, and clean up Sookie's house."

"Of course." He replies, which surprises me. I didn't expect him to be so compliant.

I begin rolling her over, and she begins to cry. I know she wants to be strong, but her human body has been through a tremendous amount. She is so courageous and I shiver at the thought of losing her. Between this and what she went through in Dallas, I am certainly afraid my nights with Sookie are in fact, numbered. I failed to keep her safe. Begrudgingly, that honor went mainly to Eric. I could at least be thankful for that.

She opens her eyes, blinks, and opens them again. Her vision seems to clear after a few seconds.

"Can you speak?" Eric asks, after a long, long moment.

She tries to speak, but her mouth is so dry, nothing comes out.

"She needs a drink."

I go to the kitchen, having to take a less than direct route, since there are a lot of obstructions in the way.

When I come back, Eric's hands are stroking her hair back. He is tender and careful. I had seen this earlier at Alcide's and wonder if he even realizes. He is sitting down beside her as close as he could, leaning on the cushions of her couch. There is blood on his face, and he looks pinker than I'd ever seen him, ruddy with health. I know Sookie notices.

Especially when I return with her water because she looks at my face. I know I must look almost sunburned because I feel like it.

I hold her up carefully and put the straw to her lips. She drinks like it's the best thing she's ever tasted.

"You killed them all," She says in a creaky voice.

Eric nods.

"Good," she says. Eric looks a little amused, just for a second. I keep my face blank. I cannot reconcile what I am seeing here due to all the things I did and said (or didn't). I am keeping my regret at bay.

"How many?" She asks.

Eric looks around vaguely, and I point a finger silently as he totes them up.

"Seven?" I say doubtfully. "Two in the yard and five in the house?"

"I was thinking eight," Eric murmurs.

"Why did they come after you like that?" I ask.

"Jerry Falcon."

"Oh, oh, yes. I've encountered him in the torture room. He is first on my list."

"Well, you can cross him off," Eric says. "Alcide and Sookie disposed of his body in the

woods yesterday."

"Did this Alcide kill him?" I look down at Sookie, watching her reaction. After killing Lorena, I suppose it's possible. "Or Sookie?"

"He says no. They found the corpse in the closet of Alcide's apartment, and they hatched

a plan to hide his remains." Eric sounds like that had been kind of cute of them.

What? I am staggered. "My Sookie hid a corpse?"

"I don't think you can be too sure about that possessive pronoun."

"Where did you learn that term, Northman?" The asshole.

"I took 'English as a Second Language' at a community college in the seventies." He announces nonchalantly, yet there is a smug undertone to it.

"She is mine." I tell him definitively. I don't care what I agreed to, I am not letting Sookie go.

I feel Sookie trying to move her hands. We both look down as she struggles to slowly raise them both, to make an unmistakable one-fingered gesture.

"Sookie!" I say in shocked admonishment.

Eric laughs, crass bastard that he is.

"I think that Sookie is telling us she belongs to herself," Eric says softly. "In the meantime, to finish our conversation, whoever stuffed the corpse in the closet meant to saddle Alcide with the blame, since Jerry Falcon had made a blatant pass at Sookie in the bar the night before, and Alcide had taken umbrage."

"So all this plot might be directed at Alcide instead of us?"

"Hard to say. Evidently, from what the armed robbers at the gas station told us, what's

remaining of the gang called in all the thugs they knew and stationed them along the interstate to intercept us on the way back. If they'd just called ahead, they wouldn't now be in jail for armed robbery. And I'm certainly sure that's where they are."

"So, how'd these guys get here? How'd they know where Sookie lived, who she really

was?" I think I know the answer to this, but want to hear Eric's thoughts.

"I am not sure, but something tells me Alcide could have leaked it to Debbie Pelt in order to assuage her insecurities and she clearly wants Sookie dead. You were faithful, however. I know you did not give up her name."

"I hadn't been faithful in other ways," I admit bleakly. "I thought it was the least I could do for her."

"This Alcide ..." I continue, " he seems to have a troubled relationship with his girlfriend."

"She is engaged to someone else. She believes he is attached to Sookie."

"And is he? He has the gall to tell this virago Debbie that Sookie is good in bed."

"He wanted to make her jealous. He has not slept with Sookie."

"But he likes her." My claim on Sookie is tenuous. This does not make me happy.

"Doesn't everyone?" Leave it to Eric to rub it in my face. I know this is his way of telling me he is not going to step aside so easily.

Sookie speaks next, but it takes so much effort on her part. "You just killed a bunch of guys who didn't seem to like me at all."

"Bill, how'd you get here?" She asks in a raspy whisper. Even in this state, she is still trying to put the pieces together. I'll have to adjust what I say accordingly.

"My car. I negotiated a deal with Russell, since I didn't want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my existence. Russell was in a tantrum when I called him. Not only had I disappeared and Lorena vanished, but his hired Weres had disobeyed him and thus jeopardized business dealings Russell has with this Alcide and his father."

"Who was Russell angriest with?" Eric asks. That is a smart question. The Sherriff is suspicious.

"Lorena, for letting me escape."

That is essentially the truth. Lorena had cut him in for a piece of the database, which is why he allowed her to use the room to torture me. Although, Lorena was hardly up front about her plans when she originally asked Russell.

However, when he found out what she was doing, it's not as if he could exactly stop her. He had already agreed to a deal with her and she was not sworn in fealty to him. Plus, she was my maker and had rights to me, which no one could argue with really. It was nothing personal, but her death meant his deal was null.

He was suspicious about Sookie and knew her name. He knew, due to my time spent there, that Lorena was insane with jealousy about a human. I had admitted what I could without telling him of the Queen's own desire for Sookie, my mission or her telepathy. Not that he needed to know these aspects to already be intrigued by her. Apparently, not only had he a taste of her blood to know it was distinct, but she had already managed to be quite impressive and stand out on her own accord. Now finding out that it was she who rescued me and killed Lorena, well let's just say I had to give him a very large percentage to incentivize him to be curious from a distance.

Eric and I have a good laugh over that one before I continue my story. Giving me time to make sure I have it straight.

"Russell agreed to return my car and leave me alone if I would tell him how I'd escaped,

so he could plug the hole I'd wiggled out of. And he asked me to put in a bid for him to

share in the vampire directory."

Even to mine own ears this sounded petty in comparison to the crime committed against myself and those I have sworn fealty to. The reality is, if it were this simple, it would have saved everyone a lot of grief. I hope the Sookie doesn't push, but making sure neither of them know the real reason for all of this, being Sookie, is going to be a lot more complicated.

Russell knew Lorena hadn't let me escape and had figured it was Sookie. Because of his previous exposure, he could smell her scent when he went into the torture room. This is the majority of the reason for admitting as much about her to him as I did in the first place.

"So," I continue hoping to distract, "I sped down the highway, on the way to tell you two that the Weres and their hired hands were pursuing you, and that they had gone ahead to lie in wait. They had discovered, via the computer, that Alcide's girlfriend, Sookie Stackhouse, lived in Bon Temps. Yes, thinking about it, that information must have came from Debbie. Alcide must have told her because I did hear overhear her on the phone and that's how I knew to follow you both back."

"These computers are dangerous things," Eric says. His voice sounds weary as he looks at me pointedly.

"Her face is swelling," I say, feeling angry and ashamed.

"Eric okay?" Sookie asks wearily. She is going to pass out.

"I will heal," he says, "Especially since having all that good fresh blood straight from the vessel."

And then she is out.

I turn to Eric, "We need to remove the bodies. Possibly burn them so there is no trace of scent."

"Yes, I know. This might be part of the problem as to why the Weres are so suspicious of Sookie. She and Alcide drove out the desert and buried the body instead of burning it. Help me move them outside and gather them in a pile, I will take care of the rest. While I am dealing with that, you begin the cleaning. Do you think I should call Pam in?"

"No," I tell him, "I don't think that will be necessary. With our strength and speed due to this large infusion, we should finish with time to spare."

"That's true." He says as he slings the first body over his shoulder. He continues, "Don't think this is the extent of our conversation. I find myself with a ton of unanswered questions. If there is time when we're done, expect us to finish it."

I nod and about an hour later Sookie's home is immaculate and Eric had cleared the bodies, taken them elsewhere and comes back washed and in a change of clothes. I have done the same.

Sookie is still down for the count, so Eric and I speak in her kitchen. It is so old and rickety, but Sookie loves it. I suppose it keeps Adele close to her, which I imagine is comforting.

"Look at this place," Eric admonishes, "and I was to find out earlier this evening that Sookie only received from you a very small portion of her check from Dallas. So small that the entirety of it went to her property taxes and no further. Why is that Bill? Can you not see she needs help in up-keeping her home?"

I am insulted.

"Well, yes, Eric, but Sookie is a very proud woman and does not take easily to gifts. You ever try giving her something?"

"Flowers when she was in hospital."

I snort. "Yes, well that's generally acceptable for a person staying in the hospital. Try something more substantial and for no other reasons, but just because you want to."

"You're telling me Sookie is ungracious when it comes to accepting gifts from the heart? I find that hard to believe. You are talking about a woman who prides herself on having the Southern manners she was raised with."

"The night she was attacked by the Meanad we had the fight because I had offered her carte blanche to any of the stores in the mall I had bought. I had meant no offense, I just wanted to offer her something because she is mine and well, she could do with some new clothes. She's not frivolous and she never spends money on herself. If she does, she makes sure it is on sale, but even that is a rarity because her first concern is always her home. Since she doesn't often prioritize her looks, I thought this would be a pleasant unexpected treat, but she pitched an absolute fit, Eric. And well…you know the rest."

"Was this the first time you tried to give her something?"

"No."

I did not tell Eric this part of the story when he originally asked how we met for a couple of reasons. One, is that it is utterly humiliating that on the very first evening I had met Sookie, I wound up being ambushed by a couple of well-known drainers. Sookie saved me and she ended up paying for that as well. But, what I really couldn't let Eric know, was how on the eve I was _sent_, I ended up almost ruining it before it started.

"I offered to let her have my blood, which had already been collected and put into vials the first night I met her.

Eric is looking at me like a bug under a microscope and I think I see his eye twitch.

"And why would you have done that, Bill?" he asks softly.

"She saved me from drainers. The Rattray's."

"So you thought to offer her your blood as a reward, to do what she wanted with." It is a statement. "And did she take it?"

I chuckle ruefully and look over my shoulder toward the living room. "Of course not. She wanted nothing to do with any of it." I shake my bowed head and look back up at Eric, he is silent for a long moment and then rolls his eyes.

"Offering her your blood _is_ normally a rare and generous gift, I would know," he says offhandedly, but with a superior look on his face, "however, considering the circumstances to begin with, it could not be qualified as a _gift_, Bill. More like a debt paid. Plus, you had not even claimed her at that point. Am I correct?"

"Yes." I feel chagrined.

"So, when have you ever attempted to give her anything else?"

"After Dallas. I had snuck a pair of earrings into her bag to match her brown knit dress." I cross my arms and lean back, "She threw those back in my face as well."

He is trying to not to laugh. I can't see what's so funny! It's near impossible to do anything nice for Sookie!

"Did you have those earrings to hand before or after you left her with me following the massacre?"

"After," I answer begrudgingly.

"I see. So, in your limited perspective, you tried to get away with calling your debt _owed_, a gift. Then out of the blue you offer her free rein to buy whatever it is she wants at anytime and tell her to just put it on your tab because you own the establishments and _finally_, your actual first attempt at getting her something was really a meagre attempt at an apology?

A loose afterthought you hoped would smooth things over, so you decided to sneak the earrings into her luggage hoping the surprise would be appreciated and all would be forgiven. Am I right?"

I am furious with this asshole. How dare he! He has no idea how stubborn Sookie can be! I was specifically thinking of Sookie when I had chosen earrings that matched her dress!

"Well, I'd say, Bill, you've been going about this all wrong!" He leans forward and slaps my shoulder, keeping his grasp on it and gives it a little squeeze like we're good buddies and he is giving me advice.

"The errors of your ways are glaringly obvious. I think you need to gain some distance so you can see it all, my friend." He slaps my shoulder again and then leans back in a sprawl, one arm hanging down loose, his other hand on the table twirling a TrueBlood cap.

He's smirking now as he continues to stare at me silently. What is he thinking? He is such a rogue, I never know what he is going to do from one moment to the next!

Then he puts his right ankle on his knee, stops playing with the cap and crosses both hands to rest on his chest. The fucking jerk is so arrogant.

"And this money you have held back from her. Did you think she was so irresponsible she shouldn't have it?"

"No! No… Sookie is mine to care for..."

"Uh-uh, Bill." He chastises me, "_Was. _Sookie _was_ yours to care for, but you passed her to me. In fact, I was all set to have a conversation in this vein before you were _kidnapped_. Consider this long overdue. So tell me what you have done with the majority of the money due to her?"

"I started a fund for her."

"Yes, so you have mentioned. A fund? As in trust fund, mutual fund… what kind of fund and why would she need it?"

Shit. I stepped into that.

"Like a savings fund, Eric. She has been hurt quite a bit since she started working for you…"

"Nice try, Bill. I'd say she'd been hurt quite a bit since the moment you stepped into her life. In fact, the times I have helped, protected and healed her are becoming too numerous to count, wouldn't you agree? Where the fuck have you been for most of it? Even when you _were_ there I had to step in. I'm the one that paid the fine for killing Longshadow. If I hadn't stepped in when I did.. Sookie would be nothing but a memory right now."

He is right and I hate that. I emit a low growl. The fucking asshole is right, but that does not mean anything! I was hired for this mission. It's not as if I wanted it in the first place! It is beneath me to be involved like this with a human. The fact that I had thought enough about her to set something financial up will be of a great help to her!

"So let's try this again, Bill. What have you done with her money?"

"I have put it aside in an account. A savings account which, will accrue a nice amount of interest. I had to glamour the bank manager in order to get the rate, but it's safe and depending on the checks she continues to receive for her services, Sookie will be a very wealthy woman in only a year or two's time, especially for these parts."

There. I was wise with Sookie's money and he cannot say I wasn't looking out for her best interests.

"Tell me, when did you plan to let her know about this secret fund, which will make her life easier? Did you have a number in mind and when the account reached it, you would then tell her?"

Why yes, that is exactly it. I nod.

"Considering how fast the money is growing, did you not think you could have afforded to give her more now?"

"I suppose I could have, yes, but she has been doing this on her own since before I came along and I didn't want to insult her. As you know and I have been telling you she is a proud woman and frankly, I don't know how she is going to react from one moment to the next in regard to these things. "

"That's due to your lack of finesse because you aren't _trying_ to understand, Bill, but let's get back to the topic." He waves his hand dismissively. Eric never could resist a jibe.

"Her grandmother's death was a recent development thanks to her involvement with a vampire. She did not manage the home in the same capacity. She helped her grandmother, but was not financially responsible for all of the day-to-day running of it. I shouldn't have to point this out to you, Bill. I'd say it's a good thing you passed Sookie to me."

"Eric!" I hiss, "I have been prudent with Sookie's money! She has been injured so many times and has no health insurance to speak of except for the occasional infusion of vampire blood, which she doesn't prefer to take! She will only do so if I slightly scare her into it because I feel it's necessary _or_," I nod my head in his direction, "if she is tricked."

Eric is quiet for a few long moments, so I continue.

"We will not always be there to help her. As it is we can only be around during the night. Sookie is active during the _day_, Eric, and the more people find out about her, the more they will look to enlist her services. You will see. If something happens and she has to go to the hospital, she will need to be able to afford it."

"Yes, I do see, with this secret fund that she knows nothing about. Why not just pay the bills for her? She is in my retinue now, mine to care for. If she was hurt, especially in the line of duty, it is my responsibility. Why should this come out of her pocket? It would be as if she received healthcare benefits from a corporation. I could have written it into her contract."

"She is proud, Eric. I didn't think she would feel comfortable..."

"No. _You_ were not comfortable, Bill. Imagine the thoughts that would come to light every time she had to pay a hospital bill due to her involvement with you and of course, you want our interaction and involvement to be as brief as possible. If I had given her something as helpful as health benefits under her contract, she would feel valued enough to remain grateful and loyal. Yes, very clever, Bill.

Here's what I really don't understand. You've discreetly been siphoning money to the Bellefleur's. The _Bellefleur's_… who you hate and who've hated you before you were even vampire and yet they've apparently been on the monetary receiving end from a mysterious benefactor? It's very Dickens-esque of you, Bill. I didn't realize you were a fan.

So you have managed to do this for them and yet you cannot come up with a way to manage Sookie's money more appropriately because you are not astute enough to decipher gift giving? Or does it come down to the fact that you are afraid of losing her when she realizes the cost of loving you? Or perhaps you are using her money to help the Bellefleur's?"

I am tense and have been trying to keep my face blank. He finally gets a rise out of me, literally. I shoot out of my seat.

"Enough with the Sherlock fucking Holmes! I am not using Sookie's money! I don't need Sookie's money! I wouldn't do that to her!"

Eric is once again studying me. He is too canny for his own good. Fine. Let him figure it out on his own, the Queen will take care of him then and I can rid myself of his presence. There is some truth to what he mentioned, but mostly, controlling her money, helps control her perceived need for me. Money equals independence and she is willful enough as it is.

The dawn is coming and I can feel its pull as we stare at one another. Eric turns and moves toward Sookie. He stands above her for a few seconds before he reaches down and gently brushes the hair off her face as I saw him do earlier. He then leans over and places feather light kisses on her forehead, then her lips and then her left and right eyelids.

I am taken aback. Could he care for Sookie beyond the ubiquitous notch on his bedpost? Nah.

"What the hell was that?" I ask.

He stands up and walks toward me.

"Just the blessing of the cross, I thought she could use it," he says, shrugging. "She probably passed out before saying her prayers tonight. She's a very good Christian, you know," he quips.

Is this guy serious? Who the fuck does he think he is? A priest? He thinks to bless her? I've seen it all now. I have _seen_…._it_…_all_.

"Something's wrong here Bill. I don't know what it is yet, but I feel that there are holes in what you're telling me."

I say nothing.

He motions over to Sookie and says, "Take care of her before you leave, but don't delude yourself over the matter. Sookie is mine now, Bill, you saw to that."

He turns back toward me and continues, "I will not stand in her way if she chooses you, but I think you'll find that won't be an issue for me. Either way, her choices for her personal life are her own. I like it better that way anyway. It's quite the challenge."

And then he winks. The asshole winks at me as he strode past, out the back door and stood on her lawn.

"Oh, and before I go to make arrangements for her care for tomorrow, I have one last question...when did you set up the fund for Sookie?

I heave a sigh, but keep my face blank, "Right after Dallas."

He nods and says, "Thank you, Bill. We're done for now, " and with that he is up in the air.

I carry Sookie up to her bedroom and treat her like glass while I dressing her in a powder blue nylon nightgown. It is worn and the material was thin. Her body is so bruised I can't imagine having anything with heavy seams would be comfortable. I decide this is the next best thing to being nude, which I know would upset her if she were to wake that way.

I swaddle her tightly in a blanket and watch her until the last possible moment while tracing the contours of her swollen face. She is so very precious to me and only to realize that now is a regret I am not sure I will get over.

Everything that had come to pass as a result of my going back to Lorena had spiralled out of control.

I love her. With everything I have within me at this moment, I love her. I never thought as a vampire that I would ever be able to be in touch with anything of my former human self, but she has the ability to bring certain traits out in me. Sookie Stackhouse - poor, small town, simple waitress, sweet Southern girl. That's upon first look.

Little does she know how valuable she is. The Queen of Louisiana wanted her before even knowing her and to know her is to love her. The more you know her, the more she reveals. The more she reveals, the more she gets under one's skin, making fissures in your façade. She is utterly unassuming and it'd be best if I could remember this fact.

With each passing revelation I am there for or told about, I am finding her more and more extraordinary. How is this possible? She is just a human!

The dawn is about to come over the horizon, but I will be back at first dark. I am sure Eric will be there or send a lackey no doubt. It's no matter. I will tend to her, say my peace and win her back.

There is no possible way Eric could ever see the things I see in Sookie. Know the things I know about her. I have been her first in most things in life and love. I am her tutor and confidant and have guided her along the way. I am the closest to her that anyone has ever been in her life. He would only serve to make a mockery of her for his own amusement. I would never do to her.

Sookie is innocently naive with her simple means and needs to be protected. She has no idea of what's coming. It will not be so hard, we have a special bond and I know what she requires more than anyone. My place in her life cannot be dismissed so easily. The Queen did hire me for a reason.

* * *

**Smack by Bitch up by Prodigy**

Change my pitch up, smack my bitch up  
Change my pitch up, smack my bitch up  
Change my pitch up, smack my bitch up


	10. Chapter 10: They Never Got You

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK**

**CHAPTER 10: They Never Got You**

**SOOKIE**:

Sunshine. I am in my bed and it is streaming through my windows. It feels like ages since I'd felt it on my skin and I'm profoundly comforted by it.

Looking down at my body is another matter. I sit on the edge of my bed and sigh deeply. Everything that happened makes me feel like I am living a bad After School Special. The bright sunlight and the birds chirping outside make it creepily surreal reminding me of those grainy horror films of the seventies. The scariest ones didn't wait for the night to fall, they were the ones kept the nightmare alive during the daylight hours as well. I feel more than a bit unnerved and extremely isolated.

Bruises and scars. That's what I see covering my body when I awake, never mind what it feels like. I look at where I was staked and knew that it will always serve as a reminder. A reminder of all the times I have been hurt or mortally injured since Bill Compton walked into my life. My whole body aches this morning after the beating I took from the Weres. I know it would probably sound terrible to the average person but I am filled with a happy relief at the thought of their deaths. Seeing Bill and Eric come barreling through my door in a fit of raging bloodlust would've filled me with pure delight if I had the energy for it at the time and the fact that I have no moral qualms about it whatsoever, makes me wonder how I can call myself a good Christian.

The thought of my killing Lorena on the other hand, is a totally different matter. In my defense, I _was_ fearing for my own life, but the memory of the stake going into her body, by my hand, churns my stomach. I can still hear the tearing of her flesh and the feel of her dead weight slumped on top of me. With these thoughts in my head, I barely make it to my bathroom to dry heave into the toilet. I guess it's lucky for me, I haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours or the mess would have been more than I could handle in my current state.

I hobble to the kitchen and fix some toast and coffee and settle onto the couch. Within minutes, there is a knock at my door. Jason. Shit, I can't catch a break. The look of surprise, mixed with anger on his face says it all. I look like hell so he starts to rant.

After the initial do-see-doing with Jason where I had to wade through his caring brother act in order to get to the root of why he came to see me in the first place (he heard I knew Alcide and wanted to get hooked up with a job), he actually manages to throw me for a loop.

First, by calling me out about about my on-off relationship with Bill.

"I'm not going to see him anymore." I tell him with as much conviction as I can muster at this moment and I believe myself.

"Uh-huh. I've heard that before." Jason smirks. He has a point but I mean it this time! He'll see. They'll all see.

"For a while," realistically leaving myself an out in case I do have a change of heart, so that I can avoid the old told ya so routine.

Second, by him noticing the missing rug in the living room and questioning me about it. I mean really? Since when did he pay attention to things like that? I cover it up with a lie and move on.

"New gravel looks good."

What the hell? Jason is on a roll this morning.

"What?' I ask, gaping.

Eric was just bitching about how shitty my driveway was last night. Oh my God….Eric! My suspicions are confirmed when Jason hands me a receipt that names Eric as my benefactor. Huh. I am dumbfounded by his thoughtfulness but then can't help feeing a twinge of sadness that the bit of thoughtfulness hadn't come from Bill.

Surely as much as he has been down my driveway, he must've noticed that it was in desperate need of repair and yet it's Eric who fixes it. Just like that. He musta' felt bad because of everything I did to save their asses. That's fine. I'll accept it.

"So who bought your driveway Sook, the ex?"

"No, Someone else."

"You sure are getting around these days."

I roll my eyes. No sense getting mad because he means it as a joke _and_ he's an idiot, so I just simply put him in his place.

"No, I'm not."

Jason then offers to get me some groceries if I need him to, which is a surprise. I tell him he is a good brother. Not entirely true, but what the hell, every dog deserves a pat on the head every now and then. When he finally leaves, I gratefully shut the door, lay on the couch to rest my sore body and start to ruminate (word of the day).

I look around at my spic and span home. No one would ever guess at what occurred here only hours ago. It's as if it never happened. Again, the creepiness factor gives way to a sense of aloneness.

I just can't get over the fact that Eric re-paved my driveway with such immediacy. I know that he never does anything without a reason, but just this once, maybe he was thinking of someone other than himself. If am being honest with myself, putting the obvious sexual attraction aside, I do kinda like him to a degree. Eric seems to 'get me' in a way that Bill doesn't and despite his age, Eric's more in tune with the times than Bill.

Bill still prefers petticoats on women, delights in the damsel in distress moments and being a chivalrous hero whereas, Eric seems to appreciate the fact that I am able to defend myself. In fact, he beamed at me like I was his first born reciting Shakespeare when he found out I had staked Lorena.

I told Jason that I was through with Bill but am I really ready to throw our relationship away? I think I am. I _should_ be, I know that, but I also know that Bill couldn't help himself. On the other hand, he betrayed me.

I close my eyes and take a long huge breath and exhale. I'm too tired for this. I have time to think upon it all later although there's a part of me that feels I shouldn't bother because any contemplation is just me, looking for excuses and it should be pretty black and white at this point.

It hurts my pride to think that any love between us was one-sided. With that and thinking about how I let myself get sucked in so fast, I know I musta' been the most naïve twenty-five year old alive. Well, not anymore. I'm finished with Bill Compton. I won't be like Alcide and let this toxic relationship rule my life although, it's not as if Bill is like Debbie, not even close but still….

I suddenly hear a car pull up my drive crunching under my new gravel. Thank you Eric. I look out the window and lo and behold if it isn't the Devil himself. By the time I haul my sore body off the couch, he's already knocking on the door. I open it and once again am met with a face that tells me just how bad I look.

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Alcide says as he takes me in. Standing there holding my suitcase, he looks like a runaway.

"Come in," I say through jaws that are getting so sore I can barely part them.

He comes in and stands just looking at me. Finally, he puts the suitcase in my room, fixes me a big glass of iced tea with a straw in it, and puts it on the table by the couch. My eyes fill with tears. Not everyone would've realized that a hot drink made my swollen face hurt.

"Tell me what happened, chere. Here, put your feet up while you do. " He places my legs across his lap and swivels me sideways. I am comfy. I then tell him everything.

"So, you think they'll come after me in Shreveport?" well at least he doesn't seem to be blaming me for bringing this in on his head, which frankly, I expected.

"I just don't know. I wish we knew what had really happened. That might get them off our backs. "

"Weres are nothing if not loyal," Alcide says.

I take his hand. "I know that."

Alcide's green eyes regard me steadily. I feel I maybe have missed something in his last little comment.

"Debbie asked me to kill you," he blurts out.

For a moment I feel cold down to my bones. What is _wrong_ with this woman?

"What did you tell her back?" I say through stiff lips. If Alcide came here to kill me, it wouldn't take much in my weakened state. I hold my breath while awaiting his reply.

"I told her she could go fuck herself, excuse my language."

"And how do you feel now?" If he is having regrets, I could be royally screwed here.

"Numb. Isn't that stupid? I'm pulling her out of me by the roots, though. I told you I would. I had to do it. It's like being addicted to crack. She's awful."

I think of Lorena and it dawns on me that maybe Bill and Alcide are more alike in this respect than I realized.

"Sometimes, the bitch wins." I sound sad when I say this even to my own ears because I recognize that Lorena is far from dead between Bill and me. I suddenly remember something I need to address with Alcide.

"Hey, you told her we had been to bed together, when you two were fighting!"

Alcide blushes a furious scarlet and looks down.

"I'm ashamed of that. I knew she'd been having a good time with her fiancé, she bragged about it. I sort of used your name in vain when I was really mad. I apologize."

Not good enough. This crazy bitch just asked him to kill me! I raise my eyebrows to indicate he has more groveling to do.

"Okay, that was really low. A double apology with a promise to never do it again." Well, that was no Eric apology after the maenad attack, which for as false as it was, was the best apology I have ever received but it'll do. I nod.

"I hated to hustle you all out of the apartment like that, but I didn't want her to see the three of you, in view of conclusion she might have drawn. Debbie can get really mad, and I thought if she saw you in conjunction with the vampires being there and if she heard that Russell was missing a prisoner…well, she would've put two and two together and might've even been mad enough to call Russell."

"So much for loyalty among Weres." I mutter but I can see his logic.

"She's a shifter, not a Were." Alcide practically spits that last part out.

I am beginning to see that despite the fact that Alcide is so obsessed with a shifter, he will never be happy with anyone but another Were. I sigh quietly. Maybe I'm wrong, and part of me hopes I am but I doubt it. I think Alcide is a good man. He just seems a little conflicted about a few things. Once he gets these items sorted, I reckon he'll be a great catch, just probably not for me though. But I can still fantasize about it and believe me, I have replayed our kiss a few times already.

"Debbie aside, someone killed Jerry Falcon and put him in your closet. That's caused me-and you-a lot more trouble than the original mission, which was searching for Bill. Who would do something like that? It would have to be someone really malicious."

"Or someone really stupid," Alcide says fairly.

"I know Bill didn't do it, he was a prisoner. And I would swear Eric was telling the truth when he said he didn't do it."

Then I have a thought and as much as I hate to bring up Debbie's name again, she clearly has an axe to grind with me and in the past twenty-four hours she's already tried to get me killed.. _twice_.

"What about Debbie? She was angry with you for being with me. Maybe she would put Jerry Falcon in your closet to cause you trouble?"

"Debbie is mean and she can cause trouble, but she's never killed anyone, she doesn't have the…grit for it. The will to kill."

Okay. Just call me Sandy. I have to laugh to myself. If sweet lil' ole' me could find the grit, I am sure that Debbie, with all of her evil ways could muster up the moxie to take a life. He is fooling himself.

"Hey, I'm a Were, I'd do it if I had to. Especially at the right time of the moon."

Is he trying to make me feel better?

We discuss several more options and find reasons to dispel each of them. We just don't know, and we may never know at this point. I'm done talking about it. Alcide says he needs to get back to Shreveport and I am relieved that he's leaving. He's good company and all, but it's getting late and I know that I'll have several visitors of the undead variety tonight and I need to rest. Before he leaves, Alcide decides to kneel beside me on the couch.

"I'm glad I met you," he says and gives me a peck on the lips goodbye. Or so I thought. I guess when he saw that the peck was okay he decided he wants some more.

I take a moment to notice his warm lips and that's when I feel his much warmer tongue. He is really trying here! Angling his head for better access and he deepens the kiss by swiping his tongue firmly and languorously against my own. Yowza. His hand hovers above me, trying to find a place on my body that might not hurt. He settles on my left hand as I am getting into it.

He's off and running now and his hand slides, in a questioning sort of way, up to my breast

and I give a sharp gasp.

"Oh God, I hurt you!" His lips look very full and red after the long kiss, and his eyes are brilliant. Well at least it was good for him.

"I'm just so sore." I say, trying not to show the pain on my face.

"What did they do to you?" he asks. "Not just a few slaps across the face?"

His brain tells me that he thought my swollen face was the worst of my injuries, which is odd because he was being so unsure as to where to put his hands only moments ago.

"I wish that had been it," I say, trying to smile.

He truly looks stricken. "And here I am, making a pass at you."

"Well, I didn't push you away," I say mildly (I was too sore to push.) "And I didn't say, 'No, sir, how dare you force your attentions on me!'"

Alcide looks somewhat startled. "I'll come back by soon," he promises. "If you need anything, you call me."

He fishes a card out of his pocket and lays it on the table by the couch. "This has got my work number on it, and I'm writing my cell number on the back, and my home number. Give me yours." Obediently, I recite the numbers to him, and he writes them down in, no kidding, a little black book. I didn't have the energy to make a joke.

I have to say I sat there a little bewildered. Why did I feel like I was taking place in a Taster's Choice competition? There's just something nagging at me, telling me that Alcide has just run riot through a series of choices and decisions and that has everything to do with using me to help him along.

Yes, this was a day for sighing.

**ALCIDE **

FUCK! Shit. It can't be. Did Debbie really have something to do with this? I accidentally told her Sookie's name a couple of times while trying to rub my new relationship in her face. I also happened to mention that she was from Bon Temps when Debbie cornered me into defending 'our relationship'.

Debbie's as canny as fox and sensed that I barely even knew Sookie. I pray to God she wasn't behind what happened. Fucking bitch. I told Sookie she wasn't capable of killing, but it isn't beneath her to let someone else do her dirty work.

It'll be alright though, I tell myself, because I meant what I said about uprooting from Debbie and once I do, I plan on courting Sookie and she'll have nothing to worry about then. I highly doubt she'd be in as much trouble once she's my girl.

I definitely feel a connection between us. In fact, I almost can't stop picturing her in my bed and I want her there so badly it actually aches. For knowing her for such a small period of time and only sampling a little soupcon, she certainly seems to have gotten under my skin pretty quickly. It appears a little taste goes a long way. It sure has for me.

She is way too good to be messed up with those fucking vamps. I wish I had met her before she got so entangled but it seems that lucky fucker Bill Compton was the beneficiary of all Sookie had to offer. Jesus, what he did to her… sure he scent is pretty fucking alluring…mmm-hmm.,yes it is - but to almost kill her? I know what happened and no one's going to tell me different, he recognized her scent and just took what he knew to be his, no bones about it.

I know Sookie didn't leave with him but I wonder if she plans on letting him attempt to weasel his way back into her life. I can't believe he would even try considering he actually raped and almost murdered his girlfriend so I hope he's too ashamed to do anything more than offer a sincere apology and call it a day.

Bill is to Sookie what Debbie is to me, bad news. Speaking of bad news, I just hope that Eric doesn't get wind that it was possibly my big mouth that set the Weres on their trail. He was shot because of me and that's something that he won't soon forget. I think I need to lay low for a while and let the dust settle before I see Sookie again. That will give me time to rid myself of Debbie as well.

**PAM**

Eric. My maker is fooling himself if he thinks I don't see what is going on. Do I not share his blood? He is falling for the telepath. He is trying so hard to act like he doesn't care, but I know him and have been paying attention ever since that very first night she walked into Fangtasia. He never puts much effort into anything unless for a reason and this particular kind of effort is different from anything I have seen before. I will let his little charade go on until she is a danger to him and then I must step in and set him straight. If he is ever to be King, he cannot be this preoccupied with a human no matter how valuable or how much I may like her myself. Not only has she proven to be extremely useful but has provided me with endless entertainment at my Master's expense. For that alone I am happy to have met the little spitfire. Who knew she would amuse so much?

I must admit I am more than a little impressed with her last adventure. Staking Lorena is no small feat and being able to use a shotgun is something I want to learn how to do! I must have her teach me.

Eric tried to keep the pride out of his voice when he told me all that had happened but I saw it in his eyes and felt it in his blood. He wants her more than ever now and I fear that he is being blinded by that want and not following protocol. This will lead to dangerous times if he is not careful.

I reach Sookie's home I feel more indignant about the state it's in. Eric was right about Compton being a tight fisted, controlling bastard. Not only has she earned the means to live easier but she is or shall I saw _was,_ his human and he says he loves her. Pffft. That is absurd. He should've seen to her needs much better but I can see now that Bill's behavior with her has gone to the extremes. Look at this _shack_! Douchebag. Pocketing her earnings and letting her continue to live in this heap. What has he been playing at?

I knock on the door even though I have already been invited in, but I read Ann Landers and don't want to seem rude. Sookie opens the door and I'm amazed that she is walking she has been beaten so severely. These humans are so very fragile. No wonder Eric thought she might need me and hopefully, I will get to see of the little telepath in _all_ her glory this time. Maybe she will need me to bathe her. Yum. Even laced with the maenad's poison she was delectable and had the most divine breasts.

.

I tell her why I am there since she is looking quite surprised to see me.

"Eric says you may need a female to help you," I say impatiently and tug at the sleeves of the ridiculous black chiffon dress Eric makes me wear. "Though why I am supposed to be you ladies maid, I don't know."

Oh I love this game! It is so much fun. My Master wants her _bad_ and is hoping Sookie will see the difference between he and Bill. There is genuine concern there of course, Eric does take care of his people and Sookie has been through much but there always are multiple reasons for everything. A bird in the hand, as they say. I smile to myself, sneaky, sneaky Eric.

I decide to fuck with her head and add to his challenge. Eric says Sookie is quite adamant about being 'done' with our kind. The more she resists, the more he will crave her and so the more fun for me. This is the most pleasure I've derived in decades and I'm not ready for it to end just yet. Plus, I want to se her naked.

"Do you really need help, or is he just trying to curry favor with you? I like you well enough, but after all, I am vampire, and you are human."

"You could sit with me for a minute." She says sort of nervously. I can't tell if she fears me and that's intriguing. Usually, it takes no more than thirty seconds before I have someone's number. I begin to question her to get a better read.

"Eric says you can fire a shotgun. Would you teach me?"

"I'd be real glad to, when I'm better."

She is looking down at her bruises and this reminds me of the staking.

"Did you really stake Lorena?" I ask. I am still finding hard to believe. I want details.

"Yes, she would have killed me." Clearly. I didn't need a justification and she had plenty of them in my opinion.

"How'd you do it?"

"I had the stake that had been used on me."

I stop her right there. I want to know about her getting staked since that is a vampire's Achilles heel. She regales me with the tale of wrestling the stake and then having it plunged into her side. She tries to describe the pain when it was removed but she said she blacked out.

I have another theory on that one. I think that Eric was able to glamour her, not that he said. She may not realize it, but it makes sense. She has an unusual amount of will and because of the telepathy, isn't privy to glamour under ordinary circumstances. I don't think she understands that she was glamoured and I know Eric would never allow her to endure such pain. I am sure he took over. He forgot to mention this to me. How clever he is. I'll just keep this to myself for now. More ammo for when I need it but I admit that I am proud of my Master.

Sookie then asks me if I would warm up some bloods when I tell her that Eric and Bill will be here soon. She scampers off to her bedroom to pretty herself up for them. She is fooling herself too it seems.

I laugh quietly to myself as I work the microwave. Sookie and Eric would deny their mutual attraction to the death if I were to present it to them right now. I can see fully that Bill has reached the proverbial end of his rope with Sookie. Good. I'm finding he isn't worthy of this particular human.

While Sookie is primping for the boys, I try to do something for her, so that I can tell Eric I followed orders. I notice her suitcase by the wall and decide to put away her clothes. She has a beautiful red dress that would look great on me and then I find a black velvet shawl folded up that is stunning. There is a card lying on top of it and it says, _'to replace the one that got ruined, Alcide'_. Oh this just keeps getting better! I can't wait until they get here so I can enjoy the show whilst stirring the pot.

There is knock at the door and surprisingly, it's Bubba. The dim wit enters and smiles his trademark smile. He is decked out in full Vegas regalia. Red jumpsuit, ankle boots, rhinestones galore and his hair is greased up and combed into a perfect pompadour. Those fucking assholes at Russell's have had a ball with him. After they almost killed him no less. Bubba looks troubled though.

"Miss Sookie, I'm sorry I lost you last night," Bubba rushes past me to be by Sookie's side.

"I see something awful happened to you last night, and I wasn't there to stop it like Eric told me to be. I was having a good time in Jackson, those guys really know how to throw themselves a party."

I roll my eyes, yeah right Bubba, they were going to party down the night they were gonna burn you at the stake, you fucking idiot. Ignorance is bliss, part of the perks of being an ignoramus. Then Sookie looked like she was having light bulb moment. You could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

"You've been watching me every night, right?" Sookie asks rhetorically, since she seems to already know the answer to her own question.

"Yes'm, ever since Mr. Eric told me to." He is such a good soldier. Dumb as the day is long but obedient to a fault. I am intrigued now, what is she getting at?

"So, you were out there the night we came back from the club? The first night?"

"You bet, Miss Sookie."

"Did you see anyone else outside the apartment?"

"I sure did." Bubba says, just beaming with pride.

"Was this guy in gang leathers?"

"Yes'm, it was that guy hurt you in the bar. I seen him when the doorman threw him out back. Some of his buddies came around back there, and they were talking about what had happened. So I knew he'd offended you. Mr. Eric said not to come up to you or him in public, so I didn't. But I followed you back to the apartment, in that truck. Bet you didn't even know I was in the back."

Bubba was about to burst with pride at his cunning stealth. I still wasn't getting the meaning of all of this. I start to get impatient and begin tapping my foot to show it.

Sookie answers Bubba's question, "No, I sure didn't know you were in the back of the pickup. That was real smart. Now tell me, when you saw the Were later, what was he doing?"

Okay, _now_ I see where this is going. Smart girl Sookie. I'm starting to see the appeal of her more and more.

"He had picked the lock on the apartment by the time I snuck up behind him, I just barely caught that sucker in time."

"What did you do with him?" Sookie is smiling at Bubba because now I know she knows the answer, as do I.

"I broke his neck and stuffed him in the closet."

As simple as that. The whole Were Biker fiasco was all because of Bubba, the retarded vampire. This is priceless. Eric is going to lose it! All because of his orders, Sookie was beaten almost to death and Eric was shot!

Oh this is going to be a great night for entertainment! I sigh with contentment, there really is never a dull moment with our Sookie. Bubba continues.

"I didn't have time to take the body anywhere, and I figured you and Mr. Eric could figure out what to do about it."

"Eric will be so pleased" Sookie states dryly. This is so good.

I had been following this conversation like a spectator at a tennis match and when I look at Sookie questioningly, she holds up her hand to ward off my questions. Bubba asks for a blood and I go to the kitchen to get it so I could have myself a good laugh. When I return, Bill and Eric have arrived. Oh goodie! Everyone get their cocks out for a measure!

I almost gag when I see Sookie perched on the ottoman with Bill behind her brushing her hair. Oh for fucks sake! His mechanics are so pathetic. He brushed her hair like that after the Maenad attack too. Does he have a brushing fetish? Sookie looks mildly uncomfortable and Eric looks repulsed.

After Bubba finishes his blood, he takes his leave and Sookie fills Bill and Eric in on the fate of Jerry Falcon. Eric doesn't seem too upset that Bubba had followed his directions to the letter. He had, after all, probably saved Sookie from certain death. Bill seems non-plussed by any of the events so I guess since it doesn't mean anything to him. Except for blood bath, he doesn't seem to care. His sole purpose is now to weasel his way back into Sookie's good graces.

I can't contain myself any longer and hoot with laughter at the thought of Sookie and the Were finding the body and then having to dispose of it. The looks on their faces had to have been priceless! I tell her as much too. She seems to not see the humor in this at all. Oh, well, I did. Then Sookie opens the door for my little bomb.

"I wish I had known all of this when Alcide was here today." I slip in and then sit back to enjoy the show.

That certainly gets a reaction out of the suitors. Bill abruptly stops brushing Sookie's hair, _thank God_, and Eric sits up a little straighter.

"Alcide Herveaux came here?" Eric asks with the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice. It is minimal, but I catch it.

"Yeah, he brought my bag. He stayed to help me out, seeing as how I am banged up." Ooh, she is playing too! Not just a pretty pair of tits I see, so I help her out.

I think this might be what it's like to have a sister or a best friend. Next we'll be wearing those gold detached heart necklaces I see at the mall kiosks. She can have the 'st end' half, since I have decided we are BFF's, I begin to play wing-woman in earnest.

"I unpacked your bag for you, Sookie. Where did you get that beautiful velvet shawl-thing?"

"Well, my first evening wrap got ruined at Club- I mean Josephine's. Alcide very kindly went shopping and bought it to surprise me….he said he felt responsible for the first one getting burned."

Inside I am doing what is called 'the happy dance'. Oh Sookie, Sookie! I do believe you are worth your weight in gold.

"He has excellent taste for, for a Were. If I borrow your red dress, can I borrow the shawl, too?" I am pushing it with this one, but I want to let Sookie know that I am doing this for her. She's earned it. A little suspiciously she says, "Sure."

I smirk and decide I've seen enough and tell them that I think I will run home through the woods. I need some fresh air after being in this tension filled room. Before I go though, I decide to take another dig at Bill.

"Oh, by the way Bill, the queen called Fangtasia this evening to find out why you are so late with her little job. She had been unable to reach you at your home for several nights, she said." I guess getting kidnapped and tortured by your maker puts a kink into returning phone calls. Dumb-ass.

Bill mutters something about calling the Queen from his house and starts that insipid hair brushing again. Eric snaps. I take that as my cue to and glance at Bill and Eric before I slip out the door. Sorry Sookie, you are on your own from here on out.

**ERIC**

"You nearly lost everything!" I spit out. Pam takes her leave on that note. She'd stirred enough shit for one night. I'll not soon forget that either, Pamela. I need to get this out however. I've had enough of chitchat and Bill's hair brushing is starting to infuriate me. What an asshole he is. Trying to relay to me the familiarity and free reign he has in Sookie's home and with her. This act of brushing her hair must have some sort of significance

"Yes, I am well aware of that." Bill replies coolly but I can tell he is incensed.

"You were a fool to take up with that she-demon again!" I am blind with fury. This is between me and Bill and I all but forgot Sookie before she spoke.

"Hey, guys, I'm sitting right here." She says and we both glare at her. Now was not the time for her to interrupt this and I have things she needs to hear as well but then she speaks again.

"Okay, I'd hoped to avoid this, but….Bill, I rescind your invitation into my house."

Bill is shocked and I am elated. _Finally_ she is showing some good sense! I grin at him triumphantly. Then she looks at me. Oh, shit.

"Eric, I rescind your invitation into my house."

What the fuck? All of a sudden I am on the other side of her door alongside a gaping Bill when Sookie appears in order to slam the door in our faces. Bill is smirking at me and I vow to myself this, it will be the last time he gets to direct that look my way.

I smile at him and his face shut down, as usual. We walk off the porch and into the yard where we could hear Sookie laughing uncontrollably. She is full of surprises and she is also inside with the covetous database and not even the Queen could enter without her consent. She deserves a good laugh at our expense after all she has been through. Bill begins muttering to himself for reassurance.

"She will come back. When she calms down. She will come back."

"She had every right you fool. I told you she was no longer yours. No matter how much you brush her hair, you and she are over. She proved that tonight."

"Do you think she wants you now? I don't think so Eric. She rescinded your invitation as well." Bill says with superiority. Guess I'll have to take his blinders off. I cock my head and raise my brow.

"This is just a temporary bump in the road in my pursuit of Sookie, Bill and as you can see there are no bumps on the road to her house anymore, thanks to me."

"You fixed her driveway?" Bill asks in shock.

"Of course. She said she couldn't afford to do so herself so I remedied the situation. Seems she isn't quite as balky about gifts as you say judging by the fact that she also seemed to accept Alcide's as well. Maybe she just doesn't like your gifts, since they are given as an afterthought out of simpering guilt. As I said before Bill, it's all in the approach. I hear women have a sort of sixth sense about these things. In fairness to you though, I suppose you would have never realized that her driveway needed reparations since it didn't directly affect you. You simply walk across the cemetery and you are here. Or do you levitate over? I suppose you also don't feel her home needs repair because you don't stay here unless it is absolutely necessary, so that doesn't affect you either. You keep her at your house, where _you_ are comfortable."

Bill is growling. What a pussycat.

"You don't have a chance in hell with Sookie. She is too smart to get caught up in your vampire politics and she loves me. I know that she does. She is angry now, but she will get over it and come back to me. I am all that she knows. I am the one she trusts." Bill says defensively.

He truly is priceless. He really doesn't know Sookie at all.

"Bill, if those thoughts get you through the night, then by all means, go on believing them. But know this, I will pursue Sookie openly and with everything in me. I have come to want her in more ways than one. You may think her naïve and to our ways and she may be, but she is a survivalist and she has just gotten a big wake up call. She isn't the same girl you left behind a over week ago and lets face it Bill, you don't deserve her. After everything she has been through and accomplished, do you really believe you do?"

Bill starts to stammer out retorts but I have heard enough of his delusional talk. I take to the sky and relish the feel of the cold wind on my face. I hover above the trees and watch Compton tuck his tail between his legs and walk home. When he is gone I descend and look upon Sookie asleep in her bed and one word comes to mind. MINE.

**BILL**

Fucking Eric! He will pay for his intrusion on my mission. I'm not entirely sure I still have the Queen's backing but I am sure I'll l find out when I call her. I know for a fact that no matter what, she won't want Eric for the job. That is a relief. I couldn't stand to be replaced by him. He is so arrogant and haughty and certainly doesn't deserve Sookie. Honestly, neither do I, but I have put in the time and effort, so I should be the one to reap the benefits, not Eric. I suppose I should go ahead and call the Queen and get it over with but as I walk in, my phone is already ringing.

* * *

"**They Never Got You" by Spoon**

You  
When you were coming up  
Did you think everyone knew  
Something unclear to you  
And when you were thrown in a crowd  
Could you believe yourself  
Did you repeat yourself  
Cause no one would hear  
And just say it again  
Cause they never got you and you never got them

Don't let it break  
Don't let it start  
Don't let em in  
Don't go too far  
And cover your tracks  
Cover the path to the heart  
Don't let those footholds start  
And don't let no one in  
Cause they never got you and you never got them

You  
When you were breaking up  
They was just waking up  
And back in that place where you come from  
Did it pay to play along  
That's where I'm coming from  
I'll roll it myself or just let it be  
Cause I never got them and they never got me  
No I never got them and they never got me


	11. Epilogue: Que Sera Sera

**SOOKIE AFTER DARK**

**EPILOGUE: Que Sera Sera**

**SOPHIE****-ANNE: The End  
**  
Sophie-Anne let out a big sigh and continued softly, "Even for one as old as I, this situation is getting complicated, my Andre. It seems Bill Compton has underestimated our little telepath and I am growing weary of his continual errors. It also seems, despite his attempt at nonchalance, that Eric Northman has taken an extreme amount of interest in her. All this fuss." She heaved another unnecessary sigh. The French, so melodramatic.

Andre smirked because he knew his Queen was about to do what she does best. Play emotional chess. He also knew there was a part of her that relished the additional scheming, which was now required to remove Bill from the equation.

"Bill is becoming an agenda liability I need to deal with in order to protect our asset. The past few months have shown that he lacks the sufficient protection required and he has proceeded to put the telepath in peril, far too many times. I suppose it has been to our benefit that Sheriff Northman is so intrigued because, unbeknownst to him, he is doing exceedingly well at protecting Miss Stackhouse in spite of Bill's impulsive inefficiency. Although, it is true that he has always been a loyal lord to his people," She mentioned as almost an afterthought.

"In truth, maybe it is I, Andre, who has underestimated the telepath or the lure of her blood because I did not expect Bill Compton, of all vampires, to stoop to loving a human. It seems her Fae blood has had quite the effect on our kind, a force majeure. This cannot stand until I am ready."

"What do you suggest, my Queen?" Andre nodded differentially.

"I believe I will have to make another call to de l'enfant Terrible maker and pretend to sweeten the pot whilst playing with her head a bit. Lorena is predictable and highly covetous. I expect it will not take much effort, as she is still the same vampire she has always been."

* * *

"Lorena? It is I, Sophie Ann. I hope you are doing well, oui? I know we were meant to keep our interaction to a minimum, but I felt you might want to have a care about your child. Consider it a favor to me repaid in kind." She murmured demurely, then continued.

"It has come to my attention that Bill has taken up with a human who has pulled his attentions from completing his database duties for us. Now you know I seek to make the highest profit available to us, therefore, we are to have the database ready for the Summit. I am afraid his dalliance has led him too far astray, you see, and the longer it takes, there is a high consequence that someone will find out and either try to steal it or make one for themselves. After all, we have gone to such trouble for secrecy, we do not want it all to be for naught, no?"

"Who is she?"

Sophie-Anne smiled predatorily. Lorena was like a fish on a hook. The insecure are often predictable, she thought to herself.

"No one of import. You can be sure I have done my due diligence in order to find out for you, mon ami, however, I thought it might be time to call your child home and remind him of your special bond, oui? Just to keep him on track for deadline, no?"

"I will call him soon."

"Bon. Keep me, how do they say it over here, in the loop? We will reap handsomely and your continued stealth and sworn fealty could possibly earn you a kingdom of your own if that is what you seek?"

Lorena hesitated. Sophie-Anne knew that more than her obsession with Bill, the child that came to reject her love, that riches and power are what she sought most as a result. It's what most vampires seek. She waited.

"It will be done," a heartbeat later she added," my Queen."

Sophie-Anne turned to Andre who was smiling smugly and in admiration.

"Lorena was even more jealous than I knew. Bill will be taken care of I am sure." She smirked and chuffed at how easily played Lorena was, knowing it was the subtle seeds sown which often instigated a result.

"Our human will make a fine vampire once she is won over with trust and loyalty. As you know well, my love, it is that which keeps my children devoted; it is a most important quality for us to have. I must find a replacement now that Monsieur Compton will betray Miss Stackhouse with his maker, she is not practiced enough yet and I do not want the Sheriff growing too attached. We will watch and I will learn more while I plan our next move."

"Will she kill him?"

Sophie-Anne raised a laconic eyebrow, "It's of no consequence. As long as Lorena never finds out about Miss Stackhouse, yet I would prefer if he were gone. Then we could take care of Lorena swiftly and no one is the wiser. If word got out, I would be within my rights to openly kill her as he was operating in my service and I was able to have her swear fealty. I would pay a huge fine but..." she shrugged that infamous Gallic shrug, "the less people know of my involvement, the better, ma cherie."

* * *

**BILL: The Middle****  
**

"When the queen came to me and said she'd heard I was working on a program that had never been attempted before, I was flattered," Bill told Sookie. Instantly, he knew he said the wrong thing. He hoped to maneuver out of the situation without too much speculation.

"The money she offered was very good, and she would have been within her rights not to offer any, since I am her subject," He explained.

"Who do you think told her?" Sookie asked, eyes wide and slightly astounded, but in truth, she found it hard to believe he didn't know.

"I don't know. I don't really want to," Bill said. His tried to sound offhand, but sensed she did not believe him. He fucked up and could only hope she didn't press. She didn't.

During the height of her torture of him, Lorena was incensed that he remained loyal to Sookie and would not give her name. She compelled him and still he resisted. It only inflamed her fury.

She tried to make Bill feel betrayed by his Queen. She admitted Sophie-Anne's initial phone call asking Lorena to call Bill home because Sophie-Anne needed his assistance with a computer project. Of course, even while Lorena was telling him half of the story, he instantly realized the whole of it because Sophie-Anne never revealed Sookie to Lorena. She was far too precious an asset to be had and knowing how Lorena thinks, Bill could piece together the rest.

Lorena must have assumed Sophie-Anne had been speaking of his directory because Bill knew that Lorena was the only one to even know of the concept.

From there they must have cut a deal, Sophie-Anne pretending to have already known about Bill's work.

And this is why she was Queen of one of the richest and most powerful vampire strongholds. She is devious in her quick cunning, almost unparalleled.

She came to him and appealed to his ego over his pride and passion. She stroked it, offered him hefty payment which took him by surprise that in turn, validated his work. So pliable from her flattery, he didn't register _how_ the Queen said she had heard of his work. A short time later she spoke to him about Sookie. How both items were a mission of the utmost secrecy, but Sookie took precedence and was to be protected as if it were his own life. To never reveal to anyone about her interest in this human or Bill's real reason for going back to Bon Temps. He was to earn her trust, love and loyalty and learn her ways. He was to seduce her if need be, in order to coerce her unwittingly from there. If he could get her to love him, that would be best.  
Lorena rabidly went on to tell Bill how the Queen phoned a second time to urge her to call him back to her. That his attachment to his filthy human sheep was delaying the progress on the database, which needed to be ready to launch by the Summit. That delay would costs them hundreds of thousands.

Bill laughed bitterly to himself, realizing Sophie-Anne was done with him. He knew the Queen had easily manipulated Lorena's self-worth by mentioning that the human was the cause for his supposed delay. Everyone knew Lorena's hubris never recovered from having to release Bill. It made her maker's call weak. Bill answered mainly out of respect, not full compulsion and this time stayed, spellbound once again by their blood exchange.

However, the obvious peril and attention brought upon Sookie led Bill to believe this was just a manipulation tactic by Lorena and kept hope that Sophie-Anne did not sell him out. If Bill lost faith in his Queen, he would believe his life to be forfeit and Lorena being the only one who could save him… yes, he knows just how insane Lorena is. A person on the brink would do anything and Lorena is there.

When Bill left Lorena all those years ago, he was repulsed by her. To hear that he might be in thrall of a human would be an unbearable slight against Lorena. They shared blood for almost a century and now again. He knew how she felt and still does. How she thought he _should _feel. They use to delight in swimming together in the blood of their shared victims. Lorena taught him contempt for humanity and the glory of being a predator. She taught him the superiority of being a vampire. This little goad Sophie-Anne so innocuously threw out was the bomb in Lorena's garden.

In that moment, not only did he realize that he had failed his Queen more times than he could count, but Sookie even more so. She was in incredible danger. He would rather Sophie-Anne have Sookie than for her to end up in Lorena's clutches. He would not break. More so for Sookie than his duty for the Queen. Even Eric, he thought, would be better than the Queen. The secret twisted lengths Sophie-Anne went to in order to have Sookie by her side only meant a singular inevitability for her. She would be turned. No matter how loyal she would end up being, Sookie would never want that. That would be the greatest sin he could commit, to be a part of that betrayal in the end.

At least Eric was starting to understand how important having her independence is to her. They made an agreement that her choices must be her own. Bill hopes he may even be coming to truly appreciate this essential nature about her and how willful she is. Their similarities are obvious. Bill howled inwardly just thinking about how he had passed Sookie over to the Sheriff, but in the end, maybe he would come to actually value her as more than a lucrative conquest for hire. In lieu of the current potential outcomes, maybe passing her on to Eric was right. That it's what is best in the long run.

Bill was amazed Lorena had waited as long as she had, but it seems she had some faculties left. He knew she was disturbed by Sookie's scent because no matter how many times they shared blood again, there was a trace of her that would linger. Bill closed his eyes in relief that she was not a tracker. As they continued to fuck and exchange, she kept asking for Sookie's name and her whereabouts, everything about her. The more he evaded, the more it tormented her mind. When he agreed to stay, he told Lorena that he had to call his Sheriff and let him know he wasn't coming back, but that he might have to go home to tie up his loose ends. It was then he saw the brink of something behind her eyes. Suspicion. Covetousness.

Bill left to make his call and just as he feared, Eric had ordered him home. When he came back to inform her, she was already completely unhinged, trapped him by silver net, kidnapped him and brought him to Russell's to torture Sookie's name out of him.

No. That he could not do. Would not. Now, his brave sweetheart sits in front of him and he plots to win her back. He will keep up the deception. He is sure she would not understand and doesn't need to know. He must have her and is committed to protecting her from the Queen and Eric and will be by her side always. She will know no other lover. He will comb her hair to soothe her and manipulate her body as only he knows how. It is only a matter of time before she takes him back. She always has before and doesn't doubt she will again. She could never know. He would not risk it.

* * *

**SOPHIE****-ANNE: Before The Beginning**

"Lorena, mon ami, how have you been? I hope the years have been treating you well, oui?"

"Well, how nice of you to call, Majesty. Just checking in or is there something I can help you with?" Lorena aimed for forced pleasantry, but her sneering tone was evident.

"Why, yes, there is Lorena, in fact. I do love how you get straight to the point! It is so provincial, so I will take your lead and get to it now, shall we? I was wondering if you have seen your child, Bill Compton, as of late?"

Lorena was terse, "No. I have not. As you know, Bill left the nest almost a century ago. I have heard smatterings of his doings and whereabouts, but I do not keep tabs. The split was... _mutual_."

"Magnifique." she purred. "Since it was a mutual decision, would you be so kind as to call Monsieur Compton for me?" Sophie-Anne was revealing only as much as she had to, letting Lorena lead the path of conversation.

"But of course, Sophie-Anne. Although, I am not sure it will be that easy. I have willingly released Bill. He does not have to heel my call."

"Yet, I am sure, considering your enduring history, he would be very pleased to hear from his maker? Just tell Monsieur that the Queen of Louisiana wishes to speak with him in regard to a project I might like to hire him for."

Lorena was growing suspicious. She was almost certain the Queen must have gotten wind of his vampire database project. If one of the Kings or Queens got their hands on it, it would be a make an incredibly lucrative investment while cementing their power infrastructure. Lorena wanted in. After all, Bill was her child and she was acting as conduit between them. Add to which, now that she sussed Sophie-Anne's interest, she could easily offer her services as a go between with some other King or Queen, like Russell, for example.

"Of course, Sophie-Anne, but I want in. A share in the profit."

Sophie-Anne was too curious to suffer any offense in regard to Lorena's demand. This looks as if it shaping up to work more and more in her favor. She decided to play dumb.

"Pardon moi?"

"Come on, Sophie-Anne, let's not play coy. We both know that Bill's database would be a huge political asset, which will also turn a small fortune. I don't know why I didn't realize this before. Since I am your link to Bill, I'd like recompense especially, as he will be harder to get hold of due to his travelling for interviews. I want sixty percent. He is my child."

If a vampire as old as Sophie- Anne could be gleeful, she was. A slightly new plan was hatching in order to take care of Lorena, but first, she had to draw more out of her in order to know how to approach Bill. She did not want the right hand to know what the left was doing.

"Mon Deui, you drive a hard bargain, Lorena, but how do I know the last bit you tell me is true?"

"When we were together towards the end, Bill came up with the idea. He became passionate about and very clever with computers. When we would discuss the possibility of making our kind known to humans, we would debate the issue. He used to champion the merits of being out in the open with this concept of his. He would speak about building a vampire catalog and history, something to keep track of all vampires presently alive as well as dead and gone. The vampire's birthdate, special talents, maker, the lot. However, since our kind has been so secretive, and not all of us wanted to be integrated, he knew he could never do anything about it. Not even just for him.

Once we came out, I assumed he would start this whole thing up again. He always was self-indulgent and quiet sneaky. I heard of his travels, never staying more than a few days anywhere, like a nomad and I presumed he has been looking for vampires who were willing to divulge. I don't know anything more on how he is gathering information. I have no idea if these vampires even know what he is doing when he questions them. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't. As I said, sneaky, especially when there's self-gratification involved. However, with a King or Queen's backing, I am sure he would more than thrilled to answer my call."

Sophie- Anne didn't need to play the lottery because she knew how to make her own fortune. Just a few simple maneuvers based off Lorena's apparent pride and greed and she led her straight down the garden path.

"Very well, Lorena. Fifty percent share, tell no one else. We speak again only if there is an emergency and call your child and let him know I await to hear from him."

"I will make sure he gets in touch. It's been nice doing business with you, Sophie- Anne."

Indeed it was. Enlightening as well. It was as if all the stars were aligned. Not only was this the perfect ruse because there was a legitimate reason to hire Bill (merci beacoup, Lorena), but it seems Sophie- Anne had a perfectly clandestine minion in Bill Compton. Fifty percent stake is nothing in the scheme of things, although Sophie- Anne had a feeling she would not end up paying Lorena her share. Not that she was one to burn bridges. She had not managed to rise to power and survive as long as she had if she did, but she always thought of contingency plans and ways out of things. Cover all bases, was the American colloquialism and she was nothing if not prudent.

The stage was set, let the play begin.

**FIN **

**

* * *

  
**

**Que Sera Sera by Doris Day**

When I was just a little girl  
I asked my mother, what will I be  
Will I be pretty, will I be rich  
Here's what she said to me.

Que Sera, Sera,  
Whatever will be, will be  
The future's not ours, to see  
Que Sera, Sera  
What will be, will be.

When I was young, I fell in love  
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead  
Will we have rainbows, day after day  
Here's what my sweetheart said.

Que Sera, Sera,  
Whatever will be, will be  
The future's not ours, to see  
Que Sera, Sera  
What will be, will be.

Now I have children of my own  
They ask their mother, what will I be  
Will I be handsome, will I be rich  
I tell them tenderly.

Que Sera, Sera,  
Whatever will be, will be  
The future's not ours, to see  
Que Sera, Sera  
What will be, will be.


End file.
